Let's Eat Cake!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: People seem to fall into two camps about the celebration of birthdays. There are those who--at least after whatever marker they've designated as the tipping point--bemoan the fact that they're a year older. Birthdays depress them, and the less fuss made, the better. (My hubby falls on this side of the divide.)

And then there are those like my dad, whose motto was "It's a whole lot better than the alternative!" He lived to be ninety-six, and was all about presents and fuss and German chocolate cake. I know I've shared this photo before but indulge me here, as it's my favorite picture of my dad. You can see that he didn't just love having birthdays, he loved celebrating other people's, too. That little twinkle is just adorable.

I was much more solemn at three. And the cake is almost bigger than I was.

I definitely come down on my dad's side of the birthday line. In the Before-times, I could stretch my birthday out for a month!  Mine is June 5th and my daughter's is the 25th, so between those two markers we could come up with another half-dozen celebratory outings and occasions.

This year will (again, sigh) be considerably more low key, but I'm happy to be spending a little time with friends and family.

Now if the birthday fairy would just bring me a Victoria sponge cake...

So how about you, REDs and readers? Are you an "ignore them" person, or a "let's eat cake!" person when it comes to birthdays?

P.S. I have a confession. I cannot make a cake. I have NEVER made a proper from-scratch birthday cake. My poor daughter got store-bought except when my niece made her favorite strawberry cake.

So I've decided I'm not too old to learn a new skill, and this year I'm determined that it will be CAKE.