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I Don’t Deserve All Those Birthday Greetings on Facebook
Last week, I turned 72 years old. To celebrate, my wife, Barbara, and our daughter Katrina took a four-mile bike ride from a park in Malta to nearby Ballston Spa (in upstate New York) where we ate a leisurely lunch before returning to the park. Then, we finished off our meal with ice-cream cones at Hayner’s Ice Cream and Country Store in Halfmoon. The weather that day was a bit chilly but sunny, and we had a great time. Then, after we said good-bye to Katrina and headed home and after we put away our bikes, I sat in my favorite chair and checked Facebook. And once again this year, I was amazed and humbled by the number of birthday greetings I received. While I feel truly blessed to be remembered in this way, I also feel guilty because of a secret I have not confessed until now.
I rarely, if ever, send birthday greetings to my friends on Facebook.
Why is that? Why am I unwilling to take a few seconds to type the words “Happy Birthday” to a friend or two, especially when Facebook makes it so easy by reminding me of my friends’ birthdays? I think I have to analyze my history with Facebook to determine the answer to that question.
