And the practice word is... Birthday

There are all the usual things one considers when merging two lives, two apartments full of stuff, two cats, two homes. Then, there are the things that arise which one did not consider, which annoy one but one can live with. For my live-in boyfriend of 5 years (live-in of 2 years) and I birthdays fall in the second category.

My Italian family celebrates all events and celebrates big. So, it should came as no surprise that birthdays were a big deal growing up and still are. It is much like being princess for a day or even a weekend. Nice dinner, cake of your choice, lots of presents, a day you planned and picked out, and all the family shows up. You are made a big deal of.

Chris, my boyfriend, doesn't celebrate birthdays. His family never really did much for them. Birthdays were acknowledged, but not made much of. So, you could imagine my surprise when the first few years we were dating, I didn't even get a card. Oh, he didn't forget my birthday. But, he'd tell me Happy Birthday and that was about it. As time went on, with coaxing, he started giving me cards.

You might ask why this is what I chose to write about for the topic of birthdays. I could have simply chosen to describe one of many special birthdays I've had with my family. But the differences in lives and how we were brought up intrigues me. And we're still figuring this birthday thing out.

Last year for Chris's birthday (since it comes first), we went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant which I planned and surprised him with and I gave him a book he wanted (he reads, too!) and a couple of CDs. And we had dinner and cake at my parents with the rest of my family later in the week. And went out for burgers and beer with my sister, Mary, and her husband, Richard, another night.

My birthday, less than a month later, we didn't celebrate. No presents. No special birthday plans. He knew about it. We went to the party my parents threw me the weekend before.

Our birthdays are still coming up this year. I've been thinking about possible plans and gifts for his. Has he been thinking about mine? We'll just have to see what happens.