They Say It's Your Birthday... We're Gonna Have A Good Time

Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday dear MEEEE
Happy birthday to me!

Yay! My 2-D Design students just brought me two kinds of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, cupcakes (in a primary color scheme... guess I've taught them something), a nice smelly candle, and they played the Beatles birthday song. And we even had birthday party napkins!

Actually, I don't usually get too excited about April 4th. I learned real quick not to expect any special treatment on this day of the year. Apparently, the charm of my joyous day faded after the first few years of cute baby Rachel planting her whole face into the cake as the family looked on in giddy amusement. I say this because the family would sometimes celebrate, sometimes not. It was really hit or miss. One year I'd get a wrapped gift, the next year I'd get nada. Zip. Zilch. I remember one year, I guess I was about 11, we had spent the day in Nashville. There was no mention of my birthday, nothing special occured. I figured they were up to something, since we were in Nashville - maybe a trip to Chuck E Cheese. As the day progressed, I got more and more anxious about this big surprise they were planning. Then, around 9pm, we headed back toward home. "They're just fooling me - my surprise is gonna happen soon" I said to myself, reassuringly. Then, when we were almost outside the city, on the way back to the country, I said from the backseat in a meek, fragile voice, "Can I have a birthday cake?" And my parents responded with a bewildered yes, saying they didn't know I wanted one. [Hell yeah I want one, bitches! Whatchoo think?] We got an ice cream cake, right before the store closed for the night. Had I not asked for a cake, they wouldn't have bought one. It was weird.

Then another year, they took me to the finest, most expensive Italian restaurant in Nashville. They brought bags of wrapped gifts and helium filled balloons into the restaurant and said I could order anything I wanted. They gleefully echoed the waitresses in their singing of "Happy Birthday", complete with the presentation of free dessert and lit candle. I didn't really enjoy that birthday much, either. I couldn't figure out why they were making such a big deal over it, when in the past they hadn't. Best I could figure, I was going to be put up for adoption. I slept with one eye open that night.