Birthdays and Anniversaries…. more time for celebrations!
Americans will look for any excuse possible to party or celebrate an occasion. We have more holidays that any other country. While birthdays and anniversaries are not observed as actual holidays, they are another opportunity for us to plan surprise parties or jus plain celebrate. While some of us prefer to keep things simple with simple family celebrations, there are others among us that decide that going all out is more up our alley! People spend millions of dollars each year trying to throw that perfect birthday party for that special someone. And when anniversaries roll around, there’s silver plates engraved with wedding dates, and golden plates engraved in gold letters; celebrating 50 years of marriage. Yes, we sure do enjoy a good reason to party don’t we? Let’ take a look at the lengths that some folks will go to celebrate their loved ones birthday or a couples wedding anniversary.
When I was a child, my father handed us a king’s hat that he lined with tin foil and it became tradition that each year we wear this hat. We were king or queen for the day. Sometimes we had a small party with some of our friends fro the neighborhood. Other times we had a home made cake that my mom made with home made icing. We always had ice-cream with our cake. Then we opened up some presents and that was the extent of the party!
Times sure have changes. Parties for children today have become much more elaborate. They are nearly always centered around a theme and it’s almost as if one parent is trying to out do the next parent. Parties today are much more than pin the tail on the donkey. Parents buy Cinderella costumes for their princess and even have cakes that look like castles. Ponies are rented out, and clowns arte hired for the afternoon. And if that isn’t enough…Disney World has hosted many birthday parties for many happy children over the years! One of the best parties I threw for my son was the one we had in our yard for his 8th birthday, it was simple but the kids had tons of fun. I didn’t have much money to spend, so I got creative. We had face painting and sack races. I went to the dollar store and bought toys to hand out for prizes. We played some fun out door games and then opened up presents. All in all it was a good day!
Similar to Halloween, the kids were supposed to come dressed as their favorite super hero, which made for a “super " party (pardon the pun)! Let’s do the math: 19.99 for the cake, 50.00 for a birthday gift, 15.00 for prizes, face paint was free (I already had some left over from Halloween), and the rest…priceless! This year his birthday fell on an odd day, so there was no party! So I got out his king hat (some traditions just never die) and made a home made cake (the first time I attempted to try this). The cake was yummy, sparkles and all! And even though my son was a pre-teen now at the age of 11, he humored me and placed the crown on his head! I took some pictures and we celebrated in style. Now I did go a bit overboard for his gift. He got an apple I pod this year. His birthday hits 2 weeks before Christmas so I have never cheated him. I got a great deal on the I pod, so I couldn’t pass this one up. The next weekend he had a friend stay over, so this seemed to make up for lack of a party! I think some of my fondest memories were of my 7 siblings and me sitting at the kitchen table. One of us was wearing a birthday crown as the rest sang “happy birthday to you”! These are the parties that will always be special. I think my son had a pretty good birthday. It was full of love, and that’s what matters most of all.
Now let’s move on to Anniversaries. Of all the anniversaries: weddings are the most celebrated. You never forget your wedding day and how beautiful you looked in your wedding gown. There are gemstones that have significant meanings for different years of marriage. The garnet and Amethyst are the traditional 6 year anniversary gemstones. The Onyx and Lapis Lazuli are common gemstones celebrating 7 years of marriage. Moving on to the 10 anniversary, the Black Onyx is the stone that represents 10 years of marriage. Of course, that shouldn’t stop you from buying your wife a new diamond ring. This seems to be the trend. Perhaps one of the most popular anniversaries is the silver anniversary. This denotes, 25 years of marriage. For many that is a milestone to be celebrated. Especially in a day and age when many marriages end up in divorce. I was married to my daughter’s dad for 7 years. Somehow, I can’t imagine still being married to him. Yet, I’ve known him for nearly 25 years, and we still talk.
So what do you buy someone who is celebrating this miraculous occasion? Anything silver will do. A silver picture frame or silver champagne flutes seem to be great gift ideas. If you’re on a budget, then you can always opt for silver plated items! Whatever you choose, I’m sure your happy couple will appreciate your gesture. There are couples who actually survive spending 50 years together. My parents have been married for nearly 60 years! I don’t know how they did it. They had eight children and some of us weren’t easy to raise. Was it old fashioned values? Or was it simply-love? Maybe a bit of both. My parents knew each other in high school. While my dad liked my mom, it would take a couple more years for my mom to catch up. They married at 21 years of age and spent their 20’s and 30’s having and raising babies. My dad worked himself to the bone, while my mom washed cloth diapers, and cooked and cleaned for 8 kids. My dad holds the door open for my mom till this day. He treats her like she’s his brand new girlfriend. I don’t remember any of their anniversaries except their 50th. It was a huge celebration! People were there that I had never met. There were long lost cousins, aunts and uncles, and nearly all their kids were at the party! I think of all celebrations, 50 years of marriage is something to be said for. I think any couple who lasts that long should wear crowns on their heads and dance all night! At my age I’ll never live to see a 50 year wedding anniversary…unless I live to be 102!
The best I can hope for are more birthday parties and future grandbabies! And maybe, if I find Mr. Right I’ll be able to celebrate the fact that I found someone after all these years!