Milestones That Shouldn't Be Milestones

It's my birthday this month, and I'm annoyed. This was supposed to be one of those birthdays that everyone can just ignore, but now it's a bloody milestone. 

When you're a kid, every birthday's a milestone. Yay!, you're one; you made it through a year. Yay!, you're two; now you're terrible. Yay!, you're three; now you're not terrible. You're ten -- double digits. You're sixteen; now you can drive. You're eighteen; you can vote. You're twenty-one; you can buy your own alcohol. Every year's a milestone of some sort.

Then there's the other end of the spectrum, when birthdays become milestones because everyone's just amazed that you reached them. Yay!, Grandma made it to eighty (anyone want to lay odds on whether or not she makes eighty-one?).

But for the forty-one years in between -- let's call it twenty-one to sixty-two -- birthdays are not supposed to be milestones. There's no significant difference between twenty-nine and thirty, forty-three and forty-four, fifty-seven and fifty-eight or whatever. It's all just life and it slogs by and for the most part your birthday is just another day. Sure, you can throw a party and pretend it's meaningful, but (trust me on this) everyone's basically just humoring you. 

But then you get cancer or some other terrible disease and suddenly that birthday that's supposed to be just another day is now a freakin' milestone. You're now Grandma. Yay!, you made it to forty (anyone want to lay odds on whether or not they make forty-one?).

I liked it better when my birthday was just another day. I wasn't really ready to go back to my birthday being a milestone. But yay!, I made it to forty-seven,* here's hoping I can make it to forty-eight...


* Dear Russian Mobsters, I realize that I've just narrowed my birth date down to a possible thirty days. This, plus various other details previously included on this cancer blog or otherwise available as a result of two-plus decades of Usenet and Internet usage have probably made me a fairly easy target for identity theft. But if I might request, just please don't. I have enough going on in my life right now. I really don't need to have to hassle with cancelling my credit card, reviewing my credit reports, and arguing with bankers. I thank you in advance for your consideration.