Birthdays are Best is Back

Yep, you read that correctly. I am, perhaps insanely, adding to my writing life again by returning to my birthdays blog. I don’t promise to write as regularly, but I plan to take this next year to share some of the things I’ve encountered about birthdays since my hiatus in 2019. Gulp, has it really been that long? It’s not as if I needed the COVID vaccine to be online, right?

First, what’s prompted the return? Honestly, many things over the past two years that have made me think “oh, that would be fun for the blog.” But, volunteering at a vaccine health clinic here recently made up my mind. I was the parking lot attendant. That means a bright orange vest, moving pylons, and smiling and saying hello a lot. The clinic was said to be serving 1,100 people a day. So that meant many, many happy people streaming in and out of the location I was at in Charlotte, NC. 

One of the other volunteers said to me that it was his favorite volunteering experience ever. Because everyone was so cheerful. I was all the more cheerful when my name was called as a lucky volunteer to receive one of the doses that would have gone to waste otherwise. I felt even better at the end of the night when I saw the last of the volunteers who had put their name in box for a chance at the vaccine in the observation room. That means all volunteers who put their names in that shift were able to walk out with a vaccine. Some of the people who had come to wait in the parking lot for hours hoping to be called also were getting their shots. 

COVID Vaccine Means More Birthdays

But, you’re probably wondering, what does this have to do with birthdays. Well, I was at a Novant clinic. The entire building they had taken over for this event was branded with their purple messaging. 

Note to self: if I ever wanted to be in medicine I would have to work for them so I could wear the vibrant purple scrubs everyone was wearing. Note to self #2: Don’t be insane. Your shaky hands and quickness to faint are not meant for medical career. 

My favorite of the signs was an arrow on the floor pointing to the exit. On a purple background the white words read: “I got my shot.” Then, the reasons were given: to “play sports,” “have a birthday party,” and “attend a concert.”

Of course the second one is what inspired me most. I loved that birthday parties made the list of top three reasons someone might get the COVID vaccine. And I wanted to share this with you, my fellow birthday enthusiasts.

More Birthday Fun to Come

Look for future blogs sharing the results of that simple birthday survey I so unscientifically posted years ago. More celebrity birthday gawking and other fun stuff around the beauty of birthdays. A birthday makes us feel special and brings us all together to show our love for friends and family.