A Birthday Ritual

I celebrated a birthday last week. There was a nice dinner out — one that required shoes that were not Birkenstocks — and a buttery pile of pancakes for breakfast that came with instructions from my daughters to “Sit down and don’t get up for ANYTHING.” That one sentence would’ve been enough to call the day a win, but a few hours later, an email arrived in my inbox and the day was complete. The subject line read “Rory has sent you a Graeter’s digital gift card.” Translation: “Summer can officially begin!”

Rory, she of Maple Candy Pork Chop fame, has been sending me the gift card every year for probably six or seven years now. It’s enough for a half dozen pints of the famous Cincinnati ice cream, plus shipping, and it’s timed perfectly, right as spring kicks into gear and Ice Cream Once a Day becomes the official family mantra. Usually the kids help me pick out the flavors but this time I went ahead and one-clicked within minutes of receiving the email. We were having a family over for dinner that weekend and I thought it would be fun to pick up a box of Comet cones and offer a veritable ice cream shop for dessert. (How much better is that than serving, say, a lemon tart?)

The ice cream is so good. I mean, Toffee Chocolate Chip should win a Pulitzer for poetry. And Abby is nuts for the Oregon Strawberry, which, she describes, is “more tang than sweet.” But the sweetest part? That Rory remembers. Anyone out there wondering “Should I? Or shouldn’t I?” about sending a gift or a note to someone for a birthday, for Mother’s Day, for a thank you, for whatever. I’m sitting here with my Salted Caramel to tell you: You should.

This year I went heavy on the chocolate-chip offerings, something my Buckeye Blitz-loving husband was not happy about. (I reminded him whose birthday it was.)

What about you guys? Do you have birthday rituals like this? Please share. If for no other reason than I always need good ideas when Rory’s birthday comes around.