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Happy Birthday Ritual
Dear Rita May
Brown,
The eldest
boy will turn twelve tomorrow. On the boys’ birthdays, I take them shopping for
a birthday gift. If they are busy on their actual day, we go on the next
closest available day. So tonight, on this Monday evening, we went shopping for
his birthday present.
He told me
earlier that he wanted an Amazon card. That’s easy. We can get that at a number
of places. I figured it would be a quick trip. But when I mentioned going to
the grocery store down the street, he asks if we can go to the department
store, you know, just in case he sees something else he wants instead.
“Of course.”
I say with a grin.
Once at the
department store, we walk the toy aisle, the game aisle, even look at clothes
and music briefly. He is getting to the age where clothing is almost as
important as toys, almost.
Ultimately,
he settles on a game instead of the gift card, after showing me the toys and
games his friends have and explaining that he is looking for something he can
play with his two younger brothers. Ultimately, it ends up taking longer than normal,
not a quick trip at all.
And,
ultimately, it is the time spent together, the fulfillment of a ritual that
acknowledges his special day, shared moments of an aunt’s full attention and a
boy’s rite of passage from one year to another that is the greatest gift of
all.
Many Happy
Birthdays to you,
Loraine
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