Having a Birthday on Facebook

It is no secret to my Facebook friends that I have been dealing with a huge loss in my life -- someone very, very important to me passed on 6 weeks ago. So, I wasn't sure what to think about my birthday, which was quickly approaching. I mean, I certainly didn't feel like celebrating. After all, I wouldn't hear from my sister, her card and gift would never arrive, she wasn't going to call me so that I could hear her voice, she wasn't going to stop by so I could see her; There was just this huge void inside me. A loss that's hard to describe unless you have lost a sibling. So in terms of my birthday, I was choosing to ignore it.



So imagine my surprise when many of my facebook friends began posting their good wishes on on the eve of my birthday, right there on my wall. Some sent videos, like

Paul McCartney singing They Say it's Your Birthday, others sent greeting cards, some left beautiful thoughts and prose on my wall, while others kept it at a simple "Happy Birthday." Others sent private messages to me and still others called me on my cell and emailed. Much to my surprise, posts of good wishes just kept rolling in--hour after hour...throughout the day and into the night...the "I'm thinking of you" comments, and all the other genuine, heart-felt thoughts made their say to me. It was truly amazing. And it touched me.



Before this, I sometimes sent Happy Birthday messages to Facebook friends, but for the most part I opted not to because it just looked like it swamped their walls. I even heard someone say that she was going to remove her birth date from her profile because it was too much. I didn't want to be a part of this kind of deluge if it turned someone off, and I didn't want to contribute to swamping someone's wall, so I have been very careful as to whom I posted greetings.



But I have learned some very important lessons from this birthday. You never know how you are impacting someone else with your kind words. For me, hearing from all of you who posted to my page was like a cool drink of water in the middle of a hot dry desert. It lifted my spirits and helped me more than I can say, and if you took the time to post, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.



My birthday was bitter sweet. The loss is still there, but having so many people simply check in with a few words was a soothing balm on this spirit. So, from now on, you can count on a Happy Birthday message from me when your birthday rolls around. I truly hope it will make you feel good and I hope it lift your spirits as well. Thank you again.