by: Mike Hamilton
Milestone birthdays come in many flavors. I won’t list them all but the 16th and the 30th are two of the best known. When someone hits upon a milestone it is customary to make a big deal of it. You have no doubt heard of folks receiving black roses for their 30th or some other birthday that is supposed to mark being old.
The Bicentennial birthday of the United States is probably the best known and probably the most celebrated birthday ever observed at least in the U.S. and it gives us some guidance in honoring our own friends and loved ones when they hit their own milestone birthdays.
Citizens made it a big deal and it was a celebrated for more then a year before the birthday came with a rush of adrenaline. The biggest reason, I believe was the anticipation.
Anyone can order a dozen black roses or take an ad out that says, “Lordy, Lordy, look who’s forty.” I like a joke as well as anyone and my friends have called me a first class practical joker, however if that is what you want to try then do it with some panache.
How do we tie both of these ideas together? Simply put, it is planning. You must decide early what the gift will be and start planning for the unveiling. You will not hit on the perfect idea the day before a birthday. That is not to say you will not find an acceptable way to celebrate the milestone birthday the day before but it will not have that lasting taste that you can savor for years to come.
As a matter of fact if you can figure out the gift a year or more in advance you can foreshadow it the year before, then you can reveal a little more of the plan each month or whatever interval you wish. Now, I have to point out that this is not the way to celebrate a passing acquaintance’s milestone, unless you want to be labeled a stalker.
This type celebration is for a close friend, your spouse or partner. If you do it and do it well they will love you more than you thought possible.
Let me give you some additional insight into what I am talking about so that you know we are both on the same page. Let’s say that the milestone birthday gift is a dream golf trip. The year before the big event you give them a set of clubs. Periodically you give them a reminder that you haven’t forgotten that golf is important to them. A month or two later you give them a golf magazine subscription. Later still you give them monogrammed tees. Even further down the road you give some fancy ball markers.
I think you get the point. You weave a story for a period of time but you must do it in such a way that they do not fully understand until the day has come. They will love you for the thought and the planning. You will enjoy it as much as they do and your relationship will be richer for it.