Lantern's Spotlight - Canadians, Aging, and Ron Burgundy: Chapter 2

Greetings, cyberspace! Chapter two of this Lantern's Spotlight article focuses on something everyone has, and keeps getting more of. Even me...

You say it's your birthday? Well it's my birthday too, yeah!

My birthday passed two weeks ago Friday. It was pretty much a non-event this year. Oh my boss took me to work, and the wife let me watch the director's cut version of Brazil via our digital cable's on-demand service...but that was pretty much it. Outside of my parents (who sent money) and my in-laws (who sent new clothes), and the guys I work with, noone else seemed to know.

Don't think that I'm complaining. At 37, I might not be "old", but I'm hardly young anymore. Birthdays used to be such an event when I was a boy - Spider-Man cakes, Star Wars presents, swimming parties, all sorts of things. I suppose time and distance have a way of catching up with a person, rendering such events extraneous. Oh don't get me wrong, I'd still eat a Spider-Man cake at 37. Most of my friends know they could get me a Star Wars-anything and I'd likely enjoy it. But has modern life made for such a frantic schedule, that we can't time out as a group and make someone feel a little extra special? Even just for one day??

Of course it's possible that this is a case of getting out what you put in to things. I can barely remember my parent's and wife's birthday. One or two friends, maybe, but that's it. Maybe if I made a bigger deal over other people's birthdays, I could once again reclaim the "cake-and-ice-cream" natal celebrations of my youth.

Wow...I think I've just given myself a mouthful of food for thought. Didn't taste too bad.

Four days later, my wife left for her sister's wedding in Pennsylvania. She made a fine bride, and with the wife's permission I'll display a few choice pictures in recognition. Then that Monday as I was watching Headline News and getting ready for work, the talking head onscreen blurted out something about "July 29th" while she reported the rest of the story. It seemed that a fellow Leo passed away - and another Canadian made famous by American television (like James Doohan before him) - was being acknowledged.

NEXT CHAPTER - The story ends with Peter Jennings, Ron Burgundy, and the end of TV journalists.