Bye Bye Birthmonth

It occurred to me today that I have no idea why we celebrate Labor Day.  I figured it had something to do with honoring work and according to the Google-Machine and Wikipedia (yes college professors I used it as my only source, suck it), it turns out I was correct.  Grover Cleveland was involved and people had to die(of course).  It really probably should be celebrated on May 1st in coordination with International Workers Day but since America is the king of "we did it oouuurrr way", it is celebrated on the first Monday of every September and I am prone to hating it.  Don't get me wrong, I love having an extra day off. My problem is the fact that it is the first Monday in September, which means that August is over.  Which means Birthmonth is over.  Which up until this very year, used to crush me.

I am pretty sure I invented Birthmonth 10 years ago.  My amazing friend Tammy remembers me celebrating Birthmonth when I lived in Oregon and the only birthday I celebrated while living in Oregon was my 30th, ten years ago.  I highly doubt that I created Birthmonth prior to that year because the years leading up to that year were not full of a lot of celebration.  I barely wanted to be alive, let alone celebrate the anniversary of my birth, let alone make it a month-long celebration.  In fact, it occurs to me now that I am thinking about it that it must have been that birthday that I shared with my beautiful friend Tammy and others in Lincoln City, OR; at a Country Clutter with ceramic roosters and a serenade by Dar Jordan's husband Bill that inspired Birthmonth.  I had re-found life and I was so incredibly happy to be alive after almost a decade of disaster and unmanaged addiction and mental illness that one day did not seem to be enough.  I needed the whole month! And so it has been, now for a decade.

So, for the last ten years, I have celebrated Birthmonth.  I am an asshole about it....but in a good natured way.  I begin reminding people in February when it is the half-way point to Birthmonth.  I may have even hijacked my amazing friend Suz's actual birthday, which falls on my half-birthday to get my point across: Birthmonth is coming! Let the countdown begin.  I am insufferable by June when Summer gets on its way, because I am counting down.  And the weeks of July are sheer madness as I count down days, then hours.  By August 1st I think most of my friends and family want to punch me as much as celebrate me....but they are all amazing people and just go with it.  I think they must know that it has a much deeper meaning for me than simply fishing for attention.  The whole month is a celebration: lunches, cards, CAKE, PIE, dinners, gifts, calls, singing, trips, more CAKE, ball-games, hugs, etc., until this day, 8-31, and then it comes to an end. And up until this birth month, it is possible that I have not handled that well.  It is possibly possible that I might even slightly fall apart.  I won't bore you with the boring details of the fall apart.  But let's just say that I have been known to call Fall the "death-season". I may have referred to September a time or two as "Stupid-Fucking-September".   Let's just say I may struggle a bit with the loss of light, the ridiculous marketing that begins tomorrow where we will see confused stores trying to sell pumpkins wrapped in tinsel.  And do not even get me started on the fact that baseball season is nearing its end....*sob*, *gulp*......(give me a minute).

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OK. Anyways.  I am not doing that this year.  Well, I am not making any promises about a major episode after the last game of the World Series, but the rest of it I am doing differently.

Because in my 41st year on the planet I am putting some things in practice that I have learned. Important stuff.

1. I love birth month but it has to end, because everything has to end so it can begin again.  All parts of every cycle are important.  The whole problem with the whole world is that we don't get this.  We want to eat strawberries in Wisconsin in December.  That line of thinking has fucked up the entire world. And it screws me up to treat the end of Birthmonth with any less joy than the beginning.
2.  If my birth month never ends, other people wouldn't be able to have their Birtmonths.  And other people are important.  In fact, it is the other people that make having my Birthmonth even possible or matterable. I did not have the greatest Birthmonth ever this year because of me....but because of you. And I want to celebrate you. Because.....Thank you.
3. Life matters.  Whether it is Birthmonth or not.  Sure, the celebrations are wonderful.  But so are the regular times.  And life moves fast and it moves on and death comes.  Even to Saints. So as mush as I can, I have to appreciate all of life....in September and October.....even in those months of the year I like to call: "not-baseball-season". It is all important.

So, Thank you for an amazing Birthmonth.  It was nothing short of perfect.  Tomorrow, I will be somewhere without Internet so Happy Birthmonth to all of the Septemberites. Enjoy the hell out of it.  Below is a link to the John Denver song I was serenaded with 10 Birthmonths ago.  It is my favorite.

"Yes and joy was just a thing that he was raised on
Love was just the way to live and die
Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field
Blue, just a Kansas summer sky...."

http://youtu.be/82GJgjuoc24