Blog #5: Birthdays & Getting Older.

It’s SUNDAY! Happy Sunday, friends. What are you doing right now? How’s the weekend going? I’m thankful you’re sitting here with me today, hopefully enjoying a nice cup of chai, or coffee, whatever you like to drink.

I don’t mean to keep making these blogs about Suketu, buuuuut, today I have to. Tomorrow is Suketu’s birthday - the big 2-7. Say whaaaatttt! Let me be the first to say, happy birthday, Suketu Patel.

With all the birth-week celebrations, it’s got me thinking about birthdays and how we’re all getting older every year. Not to get depressing, I promise that’s not the direction I’m headed. Bear with me here.

Suketu’s birth week (yes, I said birth week. We’ve practically been celebrating and doing something every day and this weekend) has been tons of fun, really. We’ve had great food, shared great company, gone on adventures, shopped, you name it. I think my favorite so far has been our chai and donut date we had early Saturday morning <3

And in saying all this, I think it is so important to celebrate birthdays. Now, I know everyone has a different perspective on this, so I want to know if you agree with me or not. Do you think birthdays, regardless of which one it is, should always be celebrated? I think it’s safe to say we all celebrate milestone birthdays, e.g. 16, 18, 25, 30, etc. But what about the birthdays in between? In my opinion, I think yes. It’s only once a year, so why not plan some things to make yourself feel special?

This has been an idea I’ve challenged as I’ve aged throughout the years. One question I’ve never understood until I hit 25 is, why do older people not talk about their age? Or get embarrassed when you ask how old they are? Or why do they not want a birthday celebration? I think a lot of people feel ashamed of how old they are most times, like it’s a weakness. Because “young people” look down upon the older generations. I’ve found myself guilty of this, I love my younger friends, but MAN they can make me feel old. If I reference Vines that I watched back in high school, or songs I grew up listening to, or this one scene in a 90’s movie that was hysterical… I get it now. I imagine that’s how my parents feel when they make an older reference I don’t understand. Sometimes it stings when you feel so dated like that. Suketu is one of those people who hates admitting he’s turning 27, because he’s close to 30… blah blah blah. Entering a new decade is scary, sure. But think about all the new and exciting adventures yet to come.

In my eyes, getting older is a privilege. It means I’ve been fortunate enough to make it this far, and hopefully to many more birthdays in the future. It means you’re wise. You have real-life experience. That is invaluable. And I wouldn’t trade my know-how or experience for anything.

When you’re a child, you think anyone 3-5 years older than you is OLD. That perspective starts to change over time. I don’t know that I view anyone as “old”, rather, just older than me. Does that make sense? How I view myself is 25 years YOUNG, Suketu is 27 years YOUNG. Not old.

As I said, this birth-week has just got me thinking about all the birthday stuff and aging and all that. Back to Suketu, he’ll love this.

Suketu, my birthday message to you is the following:

You’re 27 now - what! I’ve known you since you were 18, which means we’ve been in each other’s lives almost a full decade now. The ways I’ve seen you grow and change throughout that time have been so inspiring to watch. You are becoming the man you’ve always wanted to be and I am so thankful to be sitting front row for all the wonderful things coming your way. You’re an amazing cat dad and husband. Here’s to 27 years young, I can’t wait to explore the rest of life with you.

Happiest of birthdays to you Suketu, I love you.

See you next week, Half Past Crew.