Ashley Kontnier
Recently, I celebrated my 34th birthday.
In my experience, each year older I get, the birthdays feel a little less … special. Sure, there are the milestone birthdays — 21, 30, 40, etc. — that ramp up the experience just a little, but, for the most part, I find that the years in between tend to feel a little lackluster.
I think maybe this comes with being in my 30s. Or, maybe, it’s just a personal thing.
This year, my birthday fell on a Thursday, which also happens to be the day of the week when I have Coffee Chat — you should join me sometime — and a standing afternoon meeting. In talking to my team about the meeting, one of my employees kindly asked, “Will you even be here that day? It’s your birthday.” I chuckled to myself and explained that, yes, at 34, I spend my birthday at work when it falls on a workday. Celebrations will have to wait until the evening or weekend.
Then, just as the calendar said it would, my birthday was upon me. But it wasn’t all fun and games.
First, my son woke up sick. So, my husband — who had also broken his elbow earlier in the week — and I had to sort out care for him while he was out of school.
After Coffee Chat, I came to the office and, truthfully, the day was a whirlwind of work and phone calls and that afternoon meeting. All of which went fine, but again, not the ideal way to spend a birthday.
At approximately 4:15 p.m., I loaded up my stuff and left because there was a ribbon cutting to attend in the western part of the county, about a 45-minute drive from our office.
It was only after making the drive and arriving at the location that I realized something odd. There didn’t seem to be enough people at the location for the event.
At this point, I decided I should check my email and, there it was, in bold red letters, “EVENT RESCHEDULED.”
At this point, I was really feeling the frustration. Not only had I spent my day working, but now, I had driven way out of my way to go to an event that was not happening.
I won’t lie, I let myself stew in pity for a few moments.
Then, as I often do when things don’t go my way — and also when they do — I called my mom. She was driving, so I was on speakerphone in her car and my aunt was riding with her.
I decidedly declared, “This birthday day can go to hell,” and started explaining all of the ways the day had not gone my way.
It was only then that my aunt hit me with the nugget of perspective I had actually needed all day: “It can’t be as bad as it was two years ago.”
Like a ton of bricks, it hit me. You see, on my birthday in 2023, I spent the day with my immediate and extended family, mourning and attending the funeral of my cousin, who was nine days older than me.
That one little reminder stopped me right in my tracks.
Yes, my son was sick, but we are fortunate enough that my husband could stay home with him and we would not lose any pay.
Yes, I had Coffee Chat, but a fellow news person paid my team a generous compliment while I was there.
Yes, I had to work all day, but I get to wake up every day and go to a job that I love and that I truly believe makes a difference.
Yes, I drove 45 minutes out of my way, but I listened to some good music on the way there and had a nice chat with my mom and aunt as I drove back through the beautiful Hill Country.
Later that night, as I drove my son to the doctor and sat in the waiting room as he played — with most signs of sickness gone from his little body — I was thankful to have a happy, healthy son and access to medical care when he may need it.
So, all in all, was it a great birthday? No, not really. But it certainly wasn’t the worst.
I’m thankful for another trip around the sun and for the perspective that reminds me of all the ways I am truly rich.
Kontnier is the publisher of the Hays Free Press and News-Dispatch. She can be reached via email at [email protected].
