January 12, 2013
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Celebration!
This was the birthday that the boys have anticipated more than most, but when we got to the actual day, we were almost finished celebrating. Jeremy and Justin had this feeling that turning thirteen would be somewhat of a magical moment in which they would suddenly be taller, wiser and more independent. Just the sound of thirteen conjured up images of maturity in their minds.
We began celebrating early this year because we knew that most of my family would be together the Sunday before Christmas. We stopped and picked up a cake before we got to mom's and she had the rest of the meal planned for the next day.
After dinner we took the boys to visit an old friend. I told the boys that I've known Rose all my life. Even though she wasn't feeling well, she was gracious and demonstrated Navajo rug weaving for us.
She used the little bit of English that she knows and I used the smattering of Navajo that I've remembered to communicate, and as we were leaving JJ said, "Quit talking in Spanish." Even though we had told him multiple times that we were visiting American Indians, he didn't realize that their language wasn't Spanish.
Later that evening, we went out into the community to go Christmas caroling. Jeremy and Justin had gone caroling in the past but they didn't remember it and enjoyed the evening. There's just something about standing under the big New Mexico sky looking at the stars, smelling cedar smoke and singing Christmas carols that makes a wonderful evening.
We continued celebrating 13 after we left New Mexico. We had sushi in Missouri and Barbecue in Tennessee. We were on the road as the year turned over from 2012 to 2013 and the official birthday arrived. When we pulled into our drive in the early morning none of us really felt like having a party even though we were very glad to be home. Since three of the five of us had been awake most or all of the night, the atmosphere was pretty subdued. We've learned over the years, that it's not as important to celebrate the day as it is to celebrate the person. Even though we didn't spend much time celebrating on the actual 13th birthday, we stretched their celebration out over two weeks and celebrated the boys.
Comments (1)
We've learned over the years, that it's not as important to celebrate the day as it is to celebrate the person.
That is so true! I grew up in boarding schools mostly. I never had my birthday at home, and rarely ever saw my parents for it, as it was just after the start of term. My parents always made a point of celebrating my birthday early, along with Mom's--whose was two days before mine.
Now we celebrate our own family birthdays when it works out, usually on the day, but often over two days. The kids don't mind, and neither do we.
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