“Auntie’s here,” my sweet little granddaughter said excitedly when I opened the door to her knock last week. I tried to make sense of what she said, because that just didn’t compute. “Auntie” is a resident physician living and working 3,000 miles away. But when I asked my granddaughter if she was saying that she herself was here, she said, “No! Auntie’s here!” And sure enough, Auntie stepped around the corner, to surprise me for my birthday!
Surprise!
I had no earthly idea that she could come because of all the restrictions and risk, but here she was, in the flesh! She’s done this kind of big surprise arrival three times in the last 11 or 12 years, and every time I have thought her being here would have been a total impossibility. But thanks to the COVID numbers going down and the fact that we are all vaccinated, my spontaneous daughter had come home for her first vacation since she had started her residency back in June.
I always make a big deal out of my birthday. I have been doing it for many, many (did I say many?) years. When your birthday is on a holiday it’s always exciting, as far as I’m concerned. I wouldn’t necessarily want my birthday to be on Christmas, though, You know, because of the gift conundrum and the Christmas tree competing with the birthday cake.
It’s easy bein’ green
But on my birthday everyone wears green—or they run the risk of getting pinched! Even our dogs get into the spirit! Can you guess when it is? I obnoxiously require my whole family to wear green on my birthday, and I very conspicuously wear all kinds of St. Patrick’s Day regalia myself! To the point of embarrassment. It doesn’t embarrass me—but those who are with me may or may not pretend they don’t know me.
The times I have not worn full-on green are few and far between, and I always have some bit o’ the green on. But the year we went to Phoenix for Spring Training and watched the LA Angels beat the Giants, Richard and I wore Angels’ red for our team. I have to admit it was hard not to wear green, but what are ya gonna do? Our only subtle nod to my birthday were St. Paddy’s Day pins. But lo and behold, the entire Angel baseball team wore green Shamrock patches on their uniforms, and the halo on their A was green! What a thrill to see Mike Trout and his teammates celebrating my birthday!
No such thing as too much green!
As I mentioned, I usually go waaaaaaaay overboard in outfitting myself for my birthday. I had lots of fun with it when I was teaching. My most shameless flaunting of my birthday finery was the year I gave a speech at our local Chamber of Commerce on St. Pat’s Day. I stepped up to the podium and plopped my favorite “deelybobbers” on my head, which made quite a statement as they bobbed and weaved during my talk. Possibly not the statement I intended, but you never know. 😉
I have a large collection of St. Patrick’s Day memorabilia, from blouses and sweaters to jewelry, to towels, to scarves, to serving dishes, to decor, to shamrock pj’s, to an impressive array of pins. And besides the deelybobbers, I have the option to bedeck my head with a green tam, a green bowler, a sparkly green tiara, or even a crazy shiny green wig, given to me the year I had no hair from chemo (you can read about that here). I also have often poured milk on my cereal on my birthday and been surprised to find it had been colored green by my daughters. Yum! I will admit, though, that I have never had Green Eggs and Ham. 🤷🏼♀️
It’s really easy to buy gifts for a St. Patrick’s day lass, as all these green shamrocky items attest to. One of my most precious gifts, though, was a simple foam rubber wall hanging that my mother made in crafts at the home where she lived the last few years of her life. It’s the last gift she gave me, and It makes my heart so happy.
Green birthdays
You know how in old photos you look for clues for the occasion you may have forgotten? Like if there are presents or a birthday cake, and how many candles there are on the cake? Well, we can always tell which family photos are my celebrations because guess what! We’re all wearing green! Even our relatives in the Green family wear green, though they sometimes try to play the “we’re always Green” card. They usually wind up playing along to humor the obnoxious birthday girl. Who, me??? 😇
There are many cities, especially back East, where they celebrate my birthday with parades! Not everyone can say that! When my daughter lived in New Orleans, I think I was nearly as excited as she was that she got to ride a float in a St. Patrick’s Day parade. She even wound up on TV!
On tv in the parade! 
Irish blessings
I have the luck of the Irish with my wonderful family that indulges my green birthday penchant. And this year I feel particularly blessed, as most of us were vaccinated and able to celebrate my birthday together again. The last time my family was able to all be together was my birthday last year, just before California went to Shelter at Home status. It’s been an unforgettable year, hasn’t it?
If you’re reading this on St. Patrick’s Day, I hope you’re wearing green. If not, well, you should go fix that! Just for me! 😉😂 ☘️
I’d love for you to sign up below to receive my newsletter in your inbox. I have a special St. Paddy’s Day gift for you as well! And if you have any fun St. Pat’s photos or stories to tell, just drop them in the comments below.
And have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️
