Any kid who has a summer birthday– or any adult who grew up with one– knows that they can leave you feeling either super special or.. left out.

Left out you say? You betchya– just ask any summer birthday kid who never gets to bring in cupcakes during the school year and get treated like royalty by classmates for the day– and if you’re really lucky– have a corresponding party at your house. That kind of day definitely leads to significant upticks in poll results, and if played right, can be sustained throughout the years and potentially lead into into student council election wins.  Word is, this phenomena is  the subject of Malcolm Gladwell’s next book (!)  😉

So what about the Super Special part? We with the summer birthdays can point to experiences traveling making new friends, or summer picnics with friends (if they happen to be in town) as better than a made-from-a-box cupcake in a cold winter month.  Bitter much?

In truth– for me– some of my best memories growing up were of summer birthdays spent on Lake Leelanau.

And some of best gifts I received were local and “Pure Michigan”, such as a prized Petosky Stone.

Although I’d love to say that I still have that *exact* stone, our stand-in represents that gift from long ago.

 

As an adult, the advantage does begin to shift to those of us with summer birthdays– we can leverage the weather, and the locales such as Lake Michigan and Douglas, Michigan.

 

We can be kids again

The gifts and celebrations also (at times) become a whale of a better quality…

 

…We can also wed on our birthdays– so rather than focus on aging, we focus on building a history together

We can also appreciate that we are in good company:

Ernest Hemingway, born July 21st, 1899, celebrated summers (and birthdays) on Walloon Lake, near Petosky, Michigan.

And.. we can seek to align with that history, as we did by spending several birthdays at Camp Michigania (also on Walloon Lake).

In the final analysis, what better way than to celebrate a birthday– in the summer and in Michigan?  Hmm, maybe the Super Special aspect of summer birthdays does win out in the end?

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