Bright Ideas

On Wednesday, December 5, I turned 68. It will be the first year since I was in my early 20s when I won’t get a check, worth one dollar for every year I have lived. (It got better the older I turned). My mother started the tradition when I was 25, and we lived in Australia.

First of all, you’re not supposed to send checks to another country, where the bank has to deal with the exchange rate. And if that weren’t enough, she made the check to me, using my maiden name!

I explained her errors to the local bank where we had a checking account. They understood mothers in general and specifically my mother. They gave me the Australian dollars, and I went away happy.

Since that time I have gotten a check every year. When my mother died, my step-dad continued the practice. Until this year. He died in February, just a few days after his 88th birthday.

I don’t need the money, but I remember him for his generosity and thoughtfulness. He is also remembered by my kids, his grandchildren, and, more recently, his great grandchildren.

Close to the middle of the month, my uncle turns 78. A few days before New Year’s Day, my cousin turns 58. She is one of three cousins born in 1960. So you see it is a month of birthdays.

And last, if you turn to Christianity, Jesus has a birthday in there, too! We’re in good company.