My brother and I were both born in the month of May; he's four years older than I am although he would never fully admit to being "that" old. Ever since we were kids, we always celebrated our birthdays together not because it was cute or quirky, but because his birthday was on the 4th and mine was on the 7th, and with four children in the family it gets expensive celebrating individual birthdays within the same month.My last real birthday party that I had with my brother was when I turned 7 and he was 11. To be perfectly honest, I never minded the combined birthday parties. We had the same friends, same relatives, and board games were big back then so gift giving wasn't a big deal. My mom and dad packed up our big blue Ford station wagon with four very excited kids, and loads of food, drinks, music and headed to the beach. I remember we had a white cake decorated with yellow flowers and green leaves made out of frosting and it said "Happy birthday Danny and Rita." I thought it was the prettiest cake I had ever seen. We played dodge ball, swam in the ocean, ate barbecue, had games and prizes, and then cake and ice cream. The party lasted well until the sun went down and the memory has lasted even longer. It was the best day ever! I love how that moment is such a vivid memory.
As we all got older, there weren't so many actual birthday parties; we had birthday dinners at the restaurant of our choice instead. It was nice, but nothing compares to that one specific birthday. So, on the occasion of my birthday, I declare my 7th birthday as my official birthday memory for all future birthday celebrations. And should my brother and I decide to have another birthday like that again, I will definitely send out invitations.
