Approaching Another Big One: Here Are 6 Milestone Birthday Planning Tips! by Rebecca Daniels

Entertaining Opinion
5 years ago

Approaching Another Big One: Here Are 6 Milestone Birthday Planning Tips!

I’ve always enjoyed birthdays, though I’ve never made a big deal out of most of them. Aging doesn’t bother me, except when my body reminds me of what I can’t do anymore. I’m content to get older and, hopefully, wiser. Of course, it helps that my hair isn’t gray yet, and my oily skin, such an ordeal during adolescence, has kept wrinkles at bay. But the big milestones are still a a challenge.

My last big one was the year before my husband died, and I don’t remember what we did. I’m pretty sure he made me a lovely dinner with a celebratory cocktail before and good wine with the meal. This was the perfect celebration for us. Without him, I won’t be able to rely on someone else to know what I want, so this time I’m going to plan if for myself, and I’ll spread the celebration out over more than one day/event.

Here’s a few tips for planning your own milestone birthday: 

  • Most importantly, be thankful for being alive for so long.
  • Don’t let expectations get too big; that way you can’t be disappointed.
  • Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Celebrate differently with the various people in your life, thus the need for more than one day.
  • Let some trusted friends and family members know what you want to do. It could be different with each group.
  • Take charge of the things you know you really want, but let the rest be pleasant surprises.
  • Be clear what you want from your celebrants. I always say no gifts and remind them that their presence in my life is gift enough.

The thing I want most for my 70th birthday is an impossible dream: that my beloved husband would still be alive and celebrating this next big one with me. Then I remind myself of the blessing of having such a loving family and wonderful friends.

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Donna John
Happy birthday, Rebecca Daniels ! I just celebrated a big one, too: 50! Love that you're planning your own celebrations. I was honored to spend part of my week in Chicago with some of the 30Seconds tribe. (Thanks again, Elisa All Schmitz 30Seconds !) Please share some of your birthday photos and I'll add them to this tip. :-)
Rebecca Daniels
Donna, my actual birthday is six months away, but part of my celebration requires a lot of lead time: a trip to Mazatlan to visit some friends with a condo down there. So after booking my flight, birthday planning was on my mind, even though the big birthday itself is still six month away!
Elisa Schmitz
Oh, how I love this, Rebecca Daniels ! I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved. He sounds like an amazing man. I think they way you are celebrating this year is perfect. I am so glad you shared this with us. I agree with Donna John - I hope you will share some photos of your various celebrations. Happy happy birthday and congrats on an incredible journey so far!
Rebecca Daniels
Thanks for the support, but as I told Donna above, the birthday itself is still six months away. It's just that one big part of my celebration required LOTS of advance planning. ;-)

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