This Tuesday began like most any other day, that is to say largely uneventful.  I showered, I put on a jacket, I rode a crowded bus to work.  Work itself was busy, and I was occupied for most of the day and stayed late, until about 7:15pm.  Edward, a friend from work (great name, by the way) knew this awesome Indian restaurant in Shinsa (north of Gangnam, for those of you with basic Korean geography knowledge, and somewhere we should definitely check out more). To there we went for my birthday.  We had a delightful dinner and talked and laughed and sat near another couple of friends out for the very same reason.  I got home a little after 11:30pm, too late to give the rent I had in my pocket to my landlady, so I continued on upstairs to my quaint little apartment and went to bed after solving a few more puzzles on my DS.

Now, I must admit I’ve never been one to understand birthdays all that much after I grew up.  When I was a kid, sure, everyone loves ‘em.  Cake in the shape of E.T., carefully wrapped presents, parties with bouncy castles, what’s not to adore?  But now that I’m older… and older… they’ve lost their allure.  I didn’t actually accomplish anything, not with medical science the way it’s been since the turn of the 20th century.  Especially not me, I was a cesarean birth, popped out of the womb in much the same way one would pop out the pit of an avocado.  Birthdays are always just an uncomfortable reminder that, yes, you’ll be 40 before you know it, Gordon!

But when I got to work today, I checked my email for the first time since Monday night.  Gmail loaded up and my inbox blossomed with dozens and dozens of messages of happy birthday wishes.  And I realized that birthdays are not supposed to be an internal thing.  I’m not supposed to think to myself “yeah, I was born X years ago on this day, go me!”, pump my fist and highfive whoever’s nearby.  Rather they’re a day when everyone else gets to say “I’m glad you’re around, thanks for being a part of my life, however large or small.”

I took the first hour and a half of work today to read every single message and think about the person who sent it to me, how great they are, and how fortunate I am that I’ve met so many amazing people in my life.

So yeah, I think overall it was a pretty great birthday.  ^_^