A Birthday Story…
By Sharon Morton, founder Grandparents for Social Action
I was born on my father’s 32nd birthday, on February 18, and every year our shared birthday celebration was better than the last one.
There are so many memories of wonderful surprise parties, singing, birthday presents and lots of laughter, hugging and joy. Because our birthdays together were so joyful, and because my father was such a wonderful person, I was profoundly sad when he died five months before my 60th birthday. As our birth month approached, I found I could not face having a birthday without him. I went so far as to ask friends not to send birthday cards, nor acknowledge my birthday in any way.
When I discovered I had to be in Israel for a conference on February 20th, I decided to leave early. I arrived at the La Rome Hotel in Jerusalem on the 17th of February and quietly checked into the hotel. The clerk, glancing at my passport commented, “Oh, you have a big birthday tomorrow.” “Yes,” I said without enthusiasm. That night, there was an unexpected knock on my door. A woman, about my age was standing there and announced that she was assigned to be my roommate for the conference and she too had arrived early. We sat until late in the evening talking about life, and Israel, and jobs, and loves, but not about birthdays.
The next morning, we decided to talk a walk around our beloved city of Jerusalem. As we opened our door, we found a magnum bottle of champagne sitting there with a note. “Happy special birthday to Sharon from the management.” My new roommate asked me about it, and I explained that I had run away from home this year because I could not face being in Chicago on my birthday without my father. She said very little about it, and she asked no more questions.
Later that afternoon, I went back to the room to take a short nap; my new roommate wanted to stay in town to do some shopping. When she returned to the hotel, she asked me to sit out on the balcony of our room. Then she proceeded to bring out appetizers she had purchased from a favorite restaurant of mine, and champagne glasses as well. Dashing into the room, I brought out the champagne. We ate. We drank. We went out for dinner. It was a beautiful birthday: calm, peaceful, and filled with stories about my father and our birthdays. Since then, I always feel a certain sadness each year as my birthday approaches, but certainly not the despair I felt that first year.
Soon I will celebrate my 70th birthday. Only this week, I began thinking that I wanted to have a really big celebration. I didn’t know why I suddenly wanted to do something big. Then I received a note suggesting that people write about their 60th or 70th birthdays for this website.
It became crystal clear why I want to celebrate. I guess I am ready now to celebrate my life, as well as my father’s. And this is a great year to do it! So you are invited.
Sharon Morton is founder of Grandparents for Social Action and serves as its Executive Director. She is the grandmother of five grandchildren ages 4 to 15. She is an inspirational storyteller and travels throughout the United States to talk with grandparents about social action. To learn more, visit:
Grandparents for Social Action – www.grandparentsforsocialaction.org
Educating and engaging seniors to do social actions; empowering grandchildren to make the world a better place; and creating a legacy from one generation to another.