a noeL

I got a little family push back on the Grinch Flinch.  Understandable, I suppose. 

I’m a Christmas Eve baby so maybe it’s blasphemous for me to be a Grinch. 

I can’t flash my driver’s license without hearing, “Ohhhhhhhh….you were born on Christmas Eve.  Do you get gypped?”  It’s exasperating!  NO!  I’ve never been slighted on my birthday. 

My Mom?  Now SHE got ripped off.  While others wore party dresses, sipped eggnog and listened to carols, she wore a backless hospital gown, sucked on ice cubes and tried not to scream.  Nice!  Instead of Santa’s “Ho Ho Ho” on the roof top, she heard “Push, push…PUSH” from the doctor down south.  REAL nice.  While other moms woke before dawn Christmas morning to fill stockings and arrange gifts under the tree, mine was having her vitals checked and changing the diaper I’d filled.

My four older siblings got the short end of the candy cane, too.  They woke Christmas morning without their mommy and all her special Christmas charm. 

I, on the other hand, got life.  I got a patient, loving mother, an adoring Dad, four instant playmates and a birth date no one would forget.

Christmas Eve became the family holiday party and I was always Queen of the ball.  Because some of my more deluxe gifts were combo Birthday/Christmas packages, I got to open cool stuff while everyone else counted hours ‘til morning.  To ease the other children’s angst, Dad and Mom would choose one gift for each from under the tree to be opened on Christmas Eve.  Just one.  Aunt Kate would mail me a birthday card and a $2 bill in December, followed by a ½ birthday gift on June 24^th.  I loved getting that special package!

There was some debate when choosing my name.  Dad was sold on Noelle, Mom wanted Leona, after her mother.  Mom won.  But Dad always insisted he’d gotten his way, too.  Spell Leona backward and you have a noeL. And that became my special Christmas nickname with Dad. He would say to me, “Happy Birthday A-noel.”

My oldest sister still tells me that I was the best Christmas present she got in ’54.  Especially sweet, since as the oldest female sibling, she was pretty much my nanny.  Thanks Junie Toons!  You're wonderful!

My younger, older sister told me today that I was chubby and adorable when I came home from the hospital wearing a tiny Santa hat.  Okay.  Thank you ….I think.  Neither of those adjectives apply today; it’s more like skinny and ahorrible! But thanks for loving me anyway, Sis.  You're wonderful, too!

I've always gotten everything I wanted for my birthday; love.

I stopped counting birthdays long ago.  These days, I’m happy that mine falls at the height of Holiday chaos with less chance for a fuss and zero options for surprise parties.  It thrills me that I’m no longer asked for my ID when buying a cocktail, cutting down on the unnecessary birth date sympathies.

Does that make me a Birthday Grinch, too?  Maybe, but I’m a thankful Grinch!