| "> | | | | lives in quiet anonymity, and the world would keep |
| â Happy Birthday to You ! â | | | | on turning even if weâd never been born. |
| Itâs one of the most commonly used | | | | Yet for our family and friends, for our own |
| phrases in the English language, sung around the | | | | smaller, private worlds of kinship and friendship, |
| world on a daily basis, but what do birthdays really | | | | our presence can be felt and our absence missed. |
| mean to us ? | | | | Thus we celebrate the anniversaries of our own |
| People celebrate lots of events every year. We | | | | and of our loved onesâ births with very |
| may celebrate religious holidays, or we may | | | | personal celebrations. We may just spend time |
| celebrate anniversaries that mark the big events | | | | together on those special days, or perhaps renew |
| in our nationâs history, like the Fourth of | | | | our bonds with a larger circle of relations and |
| July, or in human history, but what significance do | | | | acquaintances. Either way, though, we like to just |
| our own birthdays have? Most of us | | | | plain have a good time on birthdays, and why |
| donât change the world. Most of us | | | | not? |
| donât lead noteworthy lives. We live our | | | | |