MARCH

march madness is upon us -- referring not to the NCAA basketball tournament, but rather to the unusual concentration of birthdays and anniversaries among my friends/relatives this month. they seem to come in spurts (if a lascivious image pops into your twisted imagination, you are a pervert. shame on you.). there are five in march, four in may, five in august, with the remainder scattered through the year.

the most personally significant of them all is the birth of my son ian. this would be true no matter what, but icing on the cake is that he was born on my 30th birthday. his due date had been about ten days prior, but it was as though he spent his time grappling the walls of his mother's womb, refusing to emerge until march 22nd. his birth was the finest birthday present i've ever received, or ever will. it was love at first sight. after he'd been through the ritual placental separation and placed in an incubator to warm up for a few minutes, i was the first person to hold him. his eyes locked onto mine with that star-child's gaze, and we looked into each others' souls for long moments. it still sends chills down my spine.

funny thing -- my own birthdays became less important after that. not that i was indifferent or avoidant or in denial, just that the focus shifted to ian, and appropriately so. simultaneously, we've always thought it a wonderful thing that we share the same birthday, bonded in this special way. pretty darn cool.