Who else dislikes their own birthdays as much as I do? Not because I’m getting older (getting older is a privilege denied to too many) but because I’ve never been one who likes being the center of attention.
Stop laughing now! Do you think writers like being the center of attention? Very few do!
Most writers love it when what they write becomes the talk of the town, the nation, or the world, but being center-stage themselves? Not so much. At least, this has been my experience when talking to other writers I know or have read about. And I have a theory about that.
I think many (if not most) writers are introverts. We think a lot but don’t say much. Instead, we put fingers to keyboards or pen to paper and say what we’re pondering just about non-stop as soon as we learn to string words together in grade school.
On paper, we share what we’ve learned, what we think, what we know, and what we’re still trying to figure out. It’s safe to say things this way–and no one can interrupt us, which makes it even better. (Introverts get interrupted quite a lot on the rare occasions when we do speak because we’re not the chatty Cathy’s that extroverts are.)
At any rate, I never enjoyed birthday parties even as a kid. Mine were always traumatic. Everyone ended up looking at me–which almost never happened the rest of the year unless I had written a new story that the teacher read in class (leaving me, once again, exposed and feeling like I wanted to melt and run under someone’s shoe). Every time my birthday rolled around, it was like I was suddenly “famous”–(or maybe it was the cake, ice cream and games that accompanied the event that were so well-regarded)–or had something green struck to a front tooth. It was downright scary to be thrust into the spotlight so rarely and so predictably once a year…
Besides, I always thought my mother should be the person feted on March 5th. All I did on my natal day was pop in–er, out (painfully!)– and show up; I contributed absolutely nothing to the event.
Now, I’ve never been a parent. Had I been, I suppose I would see this differently. But to this day I always want to congratulate and thank the MOTHER of the person having the birthday. That seems the right thing to do to me.
So, thank you, Momma, for giving birth to me. And thank you, too, for being the best Mom on the planet from March 5, 19(mumble mumble) to October 23, 1998 when you joined the best moms in heaven.
Kris and Mom playing “Cowboy” on Laramie Street
Mom (Dorothea Smith) and Kris sitting on the front step of
“The Waltons” set, Warner Bros. lot circa 1995 or so…)
