40th Birthday Poem

by Erik
(Orange, CA, USA)

40 can be scary, it’s a number that’s quite big.
You know you’re getting older when you hear it from your kids!

Let’s have a quiet night you say, let’s not make such a deal.
But secretly you want a party, come on now, let’s get real!

You family doesn’t mention it, you think your friends forgot.
And then, "Surprise!" As it turns out, they love you quite a lot.

Its not so bad, this aging thing. Getting older's not so bad.
Celebrating with your loved ones, the moments that you’ve had.

As my 40th birthday approached, I was feeling apprehensive. Forty is a big milestone, after all. I thought my friends and family were picking up on it, because they hadn’t mentioned it or asked what I wanted to do ... except for my 11 year-old daughter who asked as I picked her up from school “You’re birthday’s coming up, huh Dad? How old will you be?” I told her, and she said with seriousness, "Ooh, Dad ... You’re old!"

I began to think, you know ... maybe its better to have a quiet night to myself, or maybe hang out with the guys for a poker night. You reach a point when birthdays aren’t really something to celebrate, I guess.

My birthday finally arrived. I was officially 40 years old. The day was uneventful, and no one mentioned my birthday.

When I got home from work, my wife gave me a kiss and told me we had dinner reservations at seven. She said, "You thought I forgot, huh?”

I said, "I thought you might have ... where are we eating?”

"You'll see," she said. She drove to a favorite Mexican restaurant of ours. As we walked in she steered us not towards a table, but to the back patio dining area.

There stood my son, my daughter, the rest of my family, and most of my friends from work. My wife really meant it when she said it was a surprise! We had a great birthday dinner and a fun kind of party. My coworkers put on a kind of roast for me, sharing many of our funny work stories over the years.

When all was said and done, I decided that maybe 40 isn’t so bad after all, if you can share it with family and friends.