Birthdays & Sixteen Year Old Selves

I love birthdays, anyone's birthday, but especially my own.

This is my birthday month and it has been full of celebration: sweet treats and surprises, being thought of by friends and family, of grand wishes, in person, by mail, and by phone, along with loads of self indulgence. With these celebrations come the making of new memories, reminders of birthdays past and the wish for more... many more.

Surely everyone has a favorite birthday memory.

Mine is of my sixteenth, my sweet sixteenth.

I remember being in H.S. and having this huge crush on a boy a year older than me. He was tall, and good looking and had his own band. He played guitar, was the lead singer, and was completely clueless as to who I was... until that night his band was hired to play at my birthday party and what a party it was! There was a great mix of friends and their dates, plenty of good food and live music to dance to. All went better than expected, including the next day, when L.S.G (lead singer guy) phoned and asked me out for a date. He noticed me!

Maybe he got caught up in the moment, and enjoyed himself at the party, or liked the way I looked in my dress, which now resembles a nightgown, or maybe it was the musk perfume I wore that lured him my way... similar to the affect the Sirens had on Ulysses. I don't know, but what I did learn from that disappointing first, also last, date was 'to always be careful what you wish for'.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if somehow our adult selves could go back in time and impart the wisdom we have now that only comes with age? This is the premise behind Joseph Galliano's book titled 'Dear Me, A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self' which contains some 75 letters written by celebrities to their younger selves. I particularly like Hugh Jackman's letter along with a few others that you can read in their entirety here and even submit one of your own.

Here's mine...

And if this idea of a future self going back in time to guide a younger self intrigues you, here is a book of fiction called 'Q' by Evan J. Mandery. It's a bit of a quirky love story with lots of twists and turns. See it here.

And so as April, birthdays, and discussion of younger selves come to an end, I leave you with these thoughts...

Do you have a favorite birthday memory?...or if you could, what would you tell your sixteen year-old self?

Please share your thoughts with me by clicking on the word 'comment' below 'this' post. A dialogue box will open. Be sure to click on the small arrow first to identify yourself by choosing name/url, then type your name, (you don't need a url) or anonymous if you'd like to keep us guessing.

And if you'd like to find out more about your birthday go here, then scroll down the page and enter your birth month, day, and year.

May all your birthdays be memorable.