My best ever birthday party was a surprise one, but not the kind friends lovingly plan well in advance. My best birthday party was a celebration spontaneously thrown by… my competitors!
I was part of a rowing team participating in a 5K head race. As usual in such races, boats have to row way back past the start line and then wait patiently their turn to be called to engage in the race. All the competing teams registered in our category were gently maneuvering against the river currents, trying to maintain their on hold position. The tension was palpable. We were all secretly checking out the other teams, while nevertheless trying to stay composed and to visualize our own victory. There is a definite respect we all have for anybody who shows up for such Masters races. We come from all walks of life. We all have different life stories and our own rowing histories… Some of these people might have lived glorious days of winning in national and international competitions, some learned to row while in college, and some of us started much later in life, like myself. Yet we were all there for this race, willing to engage into a fair competition. Before it would be all over there was no way of telling the amount of mental and physical power concealed under those sun glasses, caps, club colors, and, of course, those wrinkles. Did I mention that we all tend to display at least some in my age category? Sweat does not mix well with make-up or mascara…
As if just to break the tension-loaded silence, suddenly one of my team mates blurts out loudly enough to be heard by the other boats in our race that it was my birthday! I was so startled that I almost lost control of the oars and I felt I might be sinking through the bottom of our boat. Spontaneously, all the surrounding teams burst into singing: "Happy birthday to yoooouuuu… Happy birthday to YOU!" I looked around me, thinking: "wow, they do not even know my name, and I do not know theirs. All they know is that I am another fellow rower." Some might add: one crazy enough to compete on her birthday, when she could be comfortably sitting in the shade on the river banks, sipping a cold drink. For all intents and purposes, I was also their competitor that day. The sun was close to setting, the water was sparkling with fire, we all were gathered and connected by our love for the sport and through our respect for the competition and the other participants – it was truly a magical moment!
With all due apologies to all my friends and family who took pains to organize many pleasant celebrations for me, this spontaneous minute-long river festivity enacted by my competitors still feels like the most special birthday celebration on my personal record…
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