>Happy birthdays

>Yesterday my nephew turned two years old.  It was the first time I was at the hospital when a family member was born and the day I became an aunt.

My cousin is in the hospital right now, getting ready to or having just given birth to her first son.  We are all waiting eagerly for news of their health, the baby’s name, and of course for pictures!

Today is also the birthday of my father-in-law, who was born in Toronto, and was telling me a few months ago all about how it was different when he was growing up.

It is the birthday of my older cousin, who was the oldest in his family and is now the proud and happy father of two children.

Finally, it is the day my own mother became a mom – to my lovely sister, fellow new mama, ice cream partner in crime, and best friend.

I have always loved birthdays.  But in the past two years, they have taken on more meaning for me, as I became part of the birth stories themselves, either personally or through hearing the retellings.  Now every birthday reminds me that on that day not only was someone born, but someone became a mother or a father (maybe not for the first time, but I’m starting to think that you become a parent all over again with each child).  Someone else became an aunt or an uncle, a cousin, a grandparent.  Others waited breathlessly by the phone or computer for the news.

Someone looked at that tiny face and said, “Welcome home.”

In a lucky family like mine, everyone else wiped away happy tears, cheered, and said, “You’re one of us now.”

So a very happy birthday to all the wonderful people in my life who were born yesterday or today.  And a happy day to all the parents and family and friends who welcomed you into their lives and hearts, however many years ago that was.