Happy Birthday to You!

Some of us love them, some dislike them and some just plain old ignore them. But no matter our feelings, they're inevitable.  Birthdays!

People from almost every culture worldwide have some way of celebrating births. Pagen cultures believed that any changes in a person's daily life, like turning a year older, was an invitation for the "evil spirits" to visit harm on that person. To avoid this calamity, the celebrant was surrounded by family and members of the community who provided lots of laughter and happiness to ward off the evil.

Modern celebrations date to European customs when only the nobility celebrated birthdays, likely because only the noble born kept accurate records of births and deaths.  Eventually the celebrations were adopted by the poorer classes.  As a way to mimic the royalty, it was  during this time that the custom of wearing a crown or hat during the birthday celebration came into practice.

Today, "milestone" birthdays are regularly recognized. A "sweet sixteen", "turning 21", "over the hill at 40". Parties can be extravagant and usually always include a birthday cake, topped with candles to represent the person's age. And in Western cultures the song "Happy Birthday", penned by sisters in the late 1890s is sung.

Regardless of the method, birthdays are a wonderful time to recognize the people in our lives who mean the most to us.  If it's your special day today -- Cheers!