All rise. Order in the court.
Judgmental Judy just stepped back into her chambers after an a.m. breakfast with her Libra birthday sister, snippeteer Bernadette, turning 61, just like The Judge.
Bernadette accepted a small gift bag from J.Judy without issue and graciously. There was none of that nonsense of "You didn't have to get me anything!"
She opened the birthday card and gave thanks. There was none of that gibberish of "You shouldn't have!"
She accepted the breakfast treat. There was none of that rubbish of "Let me pay half! You don't have to treat me!" Bernadette accepted the initial invitation to breakfast, the gift, the food, the card, the love. She accepted the birthday attention. She felt worthy and blessed; she simply savored and received.
And that's how birthdays should go.
Snippeteers, your mother gave birth to you however many years ago. She carried you in her belly for nine months and went through - most likely - horrible pain as you were squeezed through a mouse-hole like a slippery watermelon ten times larger. When you honor your birthday graciously, you're honoring your mother. THAT is the commemoration. God gave you life and the good blessing to be present on Earth for yet another year. THAT is the observance and YOU are the celebration!
None of this negating birthdays stuff. None of this batting away the attention. None of this laying low and not wanting to make a big deal of it. Acknowledge your date of birth! Reel it in. Savor it. Accept the attention. Aren't you worthy? Yes, everyone has birthdays, and yes, there are many others with the same birth date as you. Yet, still ... this is your birthday.
Judgmental Judy's pet peeve is when people (women! hello!) don't want to acknowledge their ages, like they're embarrassed about it, whether it's 30 ... 43 ... 50 ... 65 ... 74 ... 89. "Oh, I'm so old!" they say.
Dead or alive? PICK ONE.
Whining about turning another year older is basically saying, "I wish I was dead" since that's the alternative. Many of us have friends who died way too young - you think THEY would like to be celebrating another year of life? Heck, yeah.
The Judge bangs her gavel on negating, complaining, and swatting away birthdays. Oh, no, no, no. GLORIFY BIRTHDAYS AT EVERY AGE.
Celebrate your birthday, dammit!
Case closed.