October is the busiest birthday month for my family. My younger brother and sister (the twins) have their birthday, my oldest nephew the day after, my dad later in the month and I have a few friends with birthdays, too! So, it's a busy month of celebrations...and lots of cake!
There's usually that 1 month out of the year that's the busiest for all families and October is it for us. So, as I look ahead at all the celebrations to come...and all the gifts to buy...it's a time to reflect on what phase of life each person is celebrating. The twins are in their early 30's (so in most cases of...30 year olds...have established their careers and are looking for advancement), my oldest nephew will be 9 years old (ohhh, the memories of being 9...I remember it so well because it's the age I was when we moved from IA to TX), and my dad will be in his late 60's (not as spry as he once was and a little grumpier, too). All in such different places in their lives and looking ahead at such different futures. It's pretty interesting to think about.
The twins should be hitting their strides and really finding out where they want to go in their careers because now they've had enough life experiences to know what they like, want and don't like or want. However, they're both not quite there yet and as their older sister I'll always be concerned and want the best for them. My nephew on the other hand, he's got his whole life in front of him! But, when I see my friend's kids who are 8 or 9 (and now my nephew) I can't help but think of myself at that age because it's when we had our house fire, moved to TX and my whole life changed. I look at them and think "Wow, I was that age when all that happened?" I can't even imagine. Who knows what life will hold for my nephew and what struggles and tragedies he will face in his lifetime, but looking at him now at this age I think of my youth. And then there's my dad who I've always adored and looked up to. I never really thought about him getting old...no, I mean really old...each year because he always kept so busy and active. But, now as I see old age catching up with him and him slowing down a bit it makes more wonder about the next phase of life with my parents as they do get older and have more health problems. It's a scary thought. I've been around a lot of senior citizens growing up and it was always different because I never saw my parents that way. But, I think over the next 5-10 years it'll really be part of all our lives as we help and support our parents more.
That's the beauty (and yes, the stress, joy, concern and happiness) of life! We all go through those different phases of life...grade school, high school, college, our first jobs, our first relationships, marriage, kids, getting older, etc. But, we all go through them with different perspectives, different experiences and different expectations. That's life...for each one of us! And that's part of my intent for writing my book...to show the different phases of my life so that you and others could see how it was to be adopted and to see it from a very real view of daily life...those everyday experiences we all go through.
So, whatever month is your busiest birthday month, may all those celebrating find their joy at whatever age they are in and continue to enjoy the different phases of life! Many blessings to you on this first day of October!
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