Birthdays (October 2013) by Jonothan

You don't choose the date you're born.

You don't choose the time you're born.  

You don't choose the place you're born.

You don't choose the body you're born in. 

You don't choose the family you're born into. 

You don't really do much to earn a birthday. 

It comes without you asking or caring. 

So birthdays aren't worth celebrating for all that. 

What they are worth celebrating is another year of life lived. 

There are those we've known who never made it this far. 

A lot of them didn't choose their date of death. 

But here we are, still standing, breathing, for some reason. 

In many ways, we didn't ask for it. 

But we have it. 

Like my father says, "Every day is a gift; that's why we call it the 'present.'"

And you've had 365 of them in the past year. 

You're alive, my friend. 

Whether the day is happy or not, it is good. 

So...Good Birthday to you. 

-Jon