BIRTHDAY MAGIC
‘If birthdays did not exist already, we would have to invent them’. Birthdays are like magic, as if by the magic of a wand or fairy dust they have the ability to conjure a smile on a person’s face, the mere thought of ‘birthday’ does, and so much more every birthday wish we receive. Who does not remember the excitement in the days – or even weeks and months – before an upcoming birthday as a child? Back then it probably were mostly the presents, the cake, the party that caused the excitement, this ‘fizzy-dizzy’ feeling of happy anticipation. For me this happy countdown to my childhood birthdays started on the day two months before the actual birthday. Well, these days are gone a long time ago, and still birthdays have not lost their magic totally. What is it then that can create this moments of happiness in everyday life, however bleak that may be? I think it is that it is our birthday that makes us feel special and unique exactly like our name – although we share it with many others, for us and the people who love us it makes us different from everybody else – 22 November is Oscar Day. Birthday greetings are not just the words ‘Happy Birthday’, they are so much more, they tell us how much another person cares about us and our well-being, that we are not alone, but loved, and for the well-wishers it is a welcome opportunity to show just that, to pause in their everyday routine and think of you with a smile on their face, find some kind words and perhaps a nice card to send – in a way birthdays make the otherwise invisible bonds between people visible – just like magic, birthday magic.
I hope that the birthday magic will work on you this year, conjure many smiles on your face and make the day special and different from any other day – for sure there will be many well-wishers who will think of you and send their love.
I wish you a happy day together with your loved ones and the very best for the next year in your life and always. God bless you, Oscar.
Always in my thoughts. Many greetings from afar.
A.M.P.
Stockholm, November 2015