Happy Birthday Mum! - Tumblr Posts

This thing with birthdays

My mother turned 63 yesterday. When I congratulated her, she huffed. "It stops becoming much of a celebration, when you get older" she said, or something to that effect, and it made me sad. We live in a culture so terrified of aging. And I guess when you start getting up there, the inevitable end becomes an increasingly looming presence with every year that passes. But it hasn't got you yet, and i think that's the important thing. Our lives are painfully short. Every day, millions of people die in all manner of ways. Sometimes it's expected, failing health, dangerous occupations, long standing blood feuds, etc. Other times, it's out of nowhere. Something undetected. Something that could happen to anyone. Freak accidents. Wrong place wrong time. Occasionally even murder. You name it, somebody's died from it. Every day. Millions of people. So, Mum (and every person growing to dread that circle on the calendar), you're 63 years old. For 63 years, you have avoided being one of those millions. For 63 years, you have endured the dangers of the world and come out on top. When every year could be your last, and it could be, for every single person on the planet, making it to the next one is a cause for celebration. When you had cancer a few years back, suddenly future years became terrifyingly uncertain. So bet your ass every year we've had since, with you healthy and whole, has been a fucking gift. Every birthday is another year we got to have together. Pop that birthday on the mantle like a trophy, cos that's exactly what it is. So happy fucking birthday Mum, and every other person out there, and here's to many more.