Poshdeluxe

yay yay yay it’s my BIRTHDAY!!!!! YAY!

and i’m officially pushing 30. whoah.

hey, father time, are you *sure* about that? cos i don’t really feel all that old. in fact, i’m fairly certain that college happened, like, last week. not to mention the fact that i *clearly* remember my “jungle” slumber party, featuring all of mom’s house plants in the living room, so that birthday couldn’t have been more than a few years ago.

well, i’m sure we can sort this out later. in the meantime, I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!!!

and here’s the thing. even though, yes, the presents are super great and the abundance of cake is a major, major plus, the reason i love my birthday isn’t really about me. it’s about the people who share it with me.

ok, i don’t mean the famous people who were born on my birthday. cos there is no one cool on that list. except for robert frost. he da man! but martin short? steven tyler? come ON. why can’t i have a birthday in common with, like, a gorgeous, classy old film star or a really inspiring feminist or the person who invented reese’s peanut butter cups?

anyway

like i was saying, i love my birthday because it basically makes me feel like i’m a contestant on that old show, “this is yr life!” like i walk onto the stage, and the announcer says, “sarah elizabeth pitre! THIS IS YR LIFE!” and suddenly, from behind the curtain, all of the people i’ve loved in my life appear, and they’re all laughing and smiling and i’m jumping up and down and balloons fall from the ceiling and confetti flies through the air and i know that i have totally and utterly won this game.

on my birthday, i am constantly amazed.

i’m amazed by love. i’m amazed by the history i have with people who are spread all over the globe, and how that history *lives* and builds bridges from the past into the future. on this one day, i am reminded of how many different souls intersect with mine, like strong ropes, like diamond flash points, like a dazzling constellation in the night sky.

my birthday allows me to look back on my life and see, with incredible clarity, the gifts i’ve been given in the form of my friends and family, like a jar of fireflies that never die, and in fact, burn brighter with the passing of time.

and to think it all began in a mess of cake.

yes, my first friend was, indeed, cake.

even more than cake, i already had two amazing people in my life by my first birthday: my dad and mom.

nice hair, dad!

isn’t my mom beautiful?

i’m so thankful to them for not only loving me, but for teaching me how to love and treasure others. this lesson is what has allowed me to maintain such rich and incredible friendships throughout my life.

by the time i was in elementary school, i had definitely hit the friend jackpot.

roller skating party HOLLA!! as you can see, my friends were totally adorable and, in the case of laura in the yellow shirt, future models for glamor shots.

i’m fortunate to have friends who have been in my life since the sixth grade (although, uh, maybe it would be better if there were no remaining witnesses to my penchant for perms). there’s something so *valuable* about people knowing the thirteen year old me and the seventeen year old me and the twenty-two year old me, and vice versa. it’s kind of like having an archive, a library of yr life, but instead of dusty old books, you have people that not only remind you of yr history, but are a part of it.

in my senior year of high school, while celebrating my birthday in galveston, we stopped at a place you MAY recognize (cos yeah, some things never change, including my penchant for sweets).

hmm, notice any familiar faces in there?

birthdays are the best excuse to give yrself, fully and completely, to the enjoyment of yr life and the people who populate it. my birthday gives me a record, every year, of all of the lovely faces and brilliant personalities surrounding me. it’s like a Friend Census.

that’s amber, me, seth and sofia celebrating my 21st birthday in the power suite. why yes, our faces ARE rather pink…

i’ll admit, i take full advantage of the excuse to do something special to celebrate my birthday. some time ago, i read about a mom who decided to have as many celebrations as possible for her children, because she simply believed in the importance of appreciating things, even tiny things like a good grade on a test or the sighting of a rainbow. i believe in that philosophy, from celebrating my friends to squeeing over a baby to getting dressed up just so i can feel fancy.

for example, on my 23rd birthday, we had a posh tea party!

one of my favorite birthdays was when i turned 24 and my friend erik drove me and my other favorite people around in his band’s van. we went through not one but TWO carwashes, cos i love me some carwashes.

the idea of driving around in a van might sound boring, but when it’s full of fabulous people, there’s no other place i’d rather be.

and so, today, i’m thankful. i’m thankful for all of my birthdays past and all of my birthdays future, for the friends i cherish and the kindred spirits i have yet to discover, for the miles of cake and overflowing toasts to life and love and hope.

happy birthday to me, indeed.