Birthday Eve

Every year on the night before our birthday, my mom would sit at our bed and tell us the story of our birth. For me, it was one of my favorite parts of my birthday because she made the world sound like it was just waiting for me to arrive. It was almost magical.

So tonight, on the Eve of Colin's third birthday, after his bath I asked if he wanted to hear the story of his birth. He was excited to hear it and sat quietly as I told him the story. This isn't verbatim, of course, but this is pretty much the story I told him.

"It was a beautiful day in Hoboken, New Jersey. Mimi was visiting and Mommy and Mimi were walking around town. All of a sudden, mommy said 'oh! I think Colin is going to be born today'. So we went back to our apartment and watched a movie. During the movie, mommy said 'I think Colin's going to be born today'. So Mommy took a shower and said it was time to go to the hospital. All night long Mommy thought it was time for Colin to be born, but we waited and waited. Finally, Mimi looked outside the window and said 'the sun is rising over a church's steeple, I think it's time for Colin to be born'. And it was. And you were born. And Mommy and Daddy looked at you and said 'we love you, Colin, thank you for being born'."



He listened closely and had me tell him the story twice. He was quiet for a second and then looked at me and said "No, mommy, I'm not borned. I'm a big boy now."