This week I will be 54 years old. I am not afraid or embarrassed by my age because I happen to have an amazing diva (Ann) coloring my hair, so I hope to always have that 40-45 glow. If you think about it, unless I live to be 108 I have now passed my 50 percent expiration date. Considering all that I have learned and experienced in 54 years, the next 54 should be over the top amazing! I celebrate the entire month of October. (I learned this trick from my Love and Joy friend, Penny)
October is a wonderful month to celebrate because there is a maximum number of days…31. Four full weeks to make dinner plans, go out to lunch dates and enjoy the fall colors changing daily in celebration of life. My actual date is October 10.Yes, I came into this world delivered by Dr. McDonald at the Cook County hospital on the 10th month, on the 10th day at 10:08 a.m. (My mom couldn’t hold out another two minutes just for a 10:10 birth certificate time.) But cool all the same. I remember the year I was 10. I believe I celebrated the entire year; double digits were a really big deal.
This year I started my birthday month by sleeping in. I bought several fall candles to bring the smell of roasted pumpkins, spiced cider, and vanilla nutmeg into the house. I enjoyed dinner out with my husband on a Friday night and with my son Sunday afternoon. I spent a day at the petting zoo with my youngest friend Greysen who is 1, and next weekend I will celebrate with my mom, my aunt, two cousins and my oldest, dearest friend Gloria who is 93. I will have breakfast with my friends at McDonald’s and enjoy a BLT at Son of a Butcher’s on the very same day. (Birthday months often include a great deal of food.) I share this birthday month of October with a number of friends because in Minnesota January is generally a very cold month (you do the math!). You need to start the tradition of a birthday month celebration, After all, it might take more than a day to get it all done.
“A birthday in October can be
a special treat; the harvest has
begun of pumpkins, gourds, and
wheat. So, on your happy day
here’s a special wish for you –
may you gather joy and laughter,
love and friendship too.”
~ Author Unknown
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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