My Favorite Number

For as long as I can remember, my favorite number has been 28. I don't exactly remember why or how I came to choose this number as the best number, but I believe that it had something to do with it being fun to write (all those curves) and unique (everyone else's favorite numbers were between 1 and 15, or so it seemed), and the fact that my mom had been 28 when I was born. 28 is the number I count to before making myself get out of bed in the morning. It's the number that makes me smile when it appears randomly on a license plate, a bus, or a rugby jersey. And, now, finally, after years of anticipation, I am 28 years old.

I was born on Mother's Day in 1980. I came three weeks after my "due date," and was, of course, simply the best Mother's Day present my mother had ever received. My birth announcement:

I've always loved the fact that I was born on Mother's Day. I've always been so infatuated with mothers and babies, and it was just "cool" to have been born on a holiday--regardless of how legitimate or significant the holiday was. When I was six, Mother's Day once again coincided with my birthday, and I took it upon myself to map out all of my impending birthdays in order to figure out which birthdays would fall on Mother's Day in the future. This was actually fairly complicated math--I can't even begin to imagine figuring it out now with my mushy breastfeeding brain, but I could do it at age 6--and, as I recall, the results were fairly disappointing. I wouldn't have a birthday on Mother's Day again until I was 17. What a long time to wait. And, truth be told, I can't imagine that it was nearly as exciting at 17 as I imagined it would be when I was 6. But my 23rd birthday also fell on Mother's Day, and it was quite special indeed since it was my first Mother's Day as a mother. Luke and Jaz were almost 3 months old, and I couldn't have wished for a better birthday-Mother's Day collision.

So it is perfect that my 28th birthday would also fall on Mother's Day, since 28 is my favorite number and having my birthday on Mother's Day has such a special history for me. And it was such a perfect day. Lena let me sleep in, and when I did wake up, it was to kisses from Luke and Jaz and a smiling Zeben sweetly asking to nurse. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day (I've had many, many rainy birthdays), and Lena had filled our house with flowers cut from the garden (lilacs, and daffodils, and tulips, oh my!). It smelled amazing. Right away, the kids presented me with the cards they had made.

From Lukas. (Lukas, Zeben and a rainbow (I love rainbows)).

The oustide of the card from Jaz. (Jaz and me playing soccer).


The inside of the card from Jaz. (Jaz and me riding an elephant (I love elephants)).

From Zeben

After the cards, there were gifts to open, all wrapped beautifully in playsilks (no trash!). Lena gifted me with a clothesline (which she later set up for me and it's fabulous), a bike rack for the back of my bike (no more need to wear a backpack while riding!), and tickets to an Ani Difranco concert in July (I can't wait!). The boys gave me some fabulous kitchen gadgets that I really needed (including a way-cool shot glass with teaspoon and tablespoon measurements), and a new bath pillow. I loved everything.

I got to do everything that I wanted to do on my birthday. I ate all of my most favorite foods, saw several of my most favorite people, and did many of my most favorite things. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful 28th birthday, and I have high hopes for the rest of this year. I am definitely going to work as hard as I can to live all of my dreams and enjoy being 28 for as long as it lasts.