I will be celebrating my 52nd birthday today and tomorrow.
Part of the celebration today will be going to the Department of Licensing to get a brand new driver's license. It will be a good chance to see if any of the Buddhist's lessons from the weekend retreat rubbed off on me - "ahhh grasshopper - you must relax your mind and become one with the universe".
Only joking of course, I'm a big fan of Buddha, Buddhists, meditation and contemplation. I also am really partial to spiritual paths/people that can take a joke.
You may be asking yourself - why is it that Jack has two birthdays?
Well it goes something like this....
My mom and dad headed down to Wyoming from Montana to sell a cow and they came home with me. I ended up with two sort of unusual things from that deal - I was born in Cody Wyoming - a city I have never lived in, but still like because it's my birthplace - and I have two birth days.
I found out about my dual birth days when I was 15.
We had always celebrated my birthday on August 25th. Like most kids, I trusted that my mom - as humorous and fun loving as she could be, wasn't playing some kind of joke on me by fooling me into thinking I was born on a day I wasn't.
At 15 I was chomping at the bit to get my driver's license, and to prove my age, had to order a copy of my birth certificate from the Park County Court House in Cody, Wyoming.
Imagine my surprise when I got my birth certificate in the mail and it said my date of birth was August 24th.
"Mom"?
"Oh that....well you were born after midnight and the nurse made a mistake on the birth certificate."
Sooooo I ended up with two birthdays. The one my mom told me about and the one the state has for me.
I really celebrate on the 25th, the 24th is just a precursor, warm-up if you will. I'll fill my thermos with a good Kentucky whiskey or take a hit of acid or something on that day...in anticipation of the big shebang on the 25th.
Actually...it's a strange phenomena - every time I am asked for my birthdate (in a Doctor's office for example) I have to hesitate for a minute and think "do you want my real birthday or my legal birthday". Generally it's the legal birthday. I'm a bit concerned that I'll be prematurely tagged as losing my mind again, when the medical staff writes in their notes, "patient seems confused - unsure of birthdate."
Wishing you a great day every day - whether it's your birthday or not.
