Cake, anyone?
July 11, 2005
By Cam Tait
For those of us who have the honour - and it is an honour - of attending someone's birthday party for ten years in a row, the dynamics are pretty special. We see growth, new mobility, new ideas, new talents, and a sparkle in their eye that suggests: look out world, I'm going to set you on fire.
We all can remember attending the birthday party of a one-year-old. Such an event is huge on several fronts. The first year of anyone's life is full of wonderful events, events that provide a solid foundation for the future. The second birthday is another celebration. If you're a grandparent (like I am) you will be gently remembered of the terrible twos and how, if something isn't bolted or hammered down, it will probably end up on the floor at some point. There's an incredible sense of adventure.
Turning three is just as exciting. That's when we start to have a voice with a personality. Having a voice means so much. We can start to position ourselves in our community and family. A fourth birthday is perhaps the last birthday we share at home as a full-day resident before beginning school.
Our fifth birthday brings another first: cake and candles at kindergarten. This is a birthday when our network of friends really begins to expand and our circle becomes wider and wider. In many cases, the sixth birthday is when we're in Grade One and school starts to get 'serious'. As we begin learning more about the world around us and more about what we can do, we begin to understand that our opportunities can be endless. Turning seven brings us more opportunities as, in a positive way, we start to learn about challenges. We learn about problem solving, relating with people, and finding inner strengths that may have been hiding.
Eight was, for me, a real confidence builder. If you look closely at an eight-year-old birthday party, you can see self-esteem and self-awareness almost flowing over. It's interesting how the eighth rolls into the ninth birthday and springboards us to look forward to a tenth birthday. And every decade we mark, every tenth birthday we celebrate is, indeed, a milestone. With every decade we gain new skills, new friends, new networks, and new ideas of how we can as people - or organizations - become better.
Any birthday party has groups in the kitchen, or in the living room, or in the basement, or even in the garage. My experiences suggest that people enjoy talking about the good old days when we did things we perhaps shouldn't mention, or things we did with pride. We also talk about the people who were so important in our lives and how we have lost contact, how we wonder where they are and what they're doing. And while it's important to remember those magical days and times of our youth, we should also look to where we want to go next. We should remember the skills and expertise we have garnered over the years and how we can expand those to new horizons. We should also welcome and be enthused about the countless people we have yet to meet, folks with whom we can share so much.
I have those feelings right now, this being the tenth birthday of CharityVillage. Yes, we've done a lot.
There's even more to do.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy some cake.
Cam Tait is a sports reporter and columnist for the Edmonton Journal. He covered community investments and volunteers for 19 years. E-mail Cam at cam@charityvillage.com with thoughts, suggestions or ideas.
Opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CharityVillage.com®.
