Today is my birthday. At 6 am, after a long night of trying to complete some assignments, I wasn’t feeling celebratory. The economy has hit us hard, and my head was spinning from the roller coaster of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

On top of that, by 8 am this morning, I had received at least seven birthday greetings from a variety of website services, a phone call Happy Birthday! from the car dealership, and at least a half-dozen birthday postcards from my physical therapist, favorite restaurant, dentist, and a number of other companies that have somehow accessed my personal information. It seems the marketing power of birthdays has made new inroads. The significance of birthdays has been tainted! I was starting to feel like Eeyore: “After all, what are birthdays? Here today and gone tomorrow.”

Then a volley of Facebook greetings from honest-to-goodness real friends, and family members, began to pop up in my email. These were sincere greetings. I could hear the smiles in their words. They changed my mood.

But the best greeting, so far, came from my youngest son. He left a funny card on my keyboard. Inside was a $20 bill. You know things are bad when your sons start giving you spending money! But somehow, the gesture just made my day.

I’m ready to take Peter and Paul out to celebrate, as long as they pick up the check.