WSET.com - ABC13The Birthdays I Remember by Melinda Zosh

Since I just celebrated my birthday two days ago, it got me thinking. Isn't it funny how we remember certain birthdays and others…we just sort of forget? So I thought I'd share some of the birthdays I remember best.

Let me start with my earliest recollection. I had just turned three (or was it four?) Anyway, I know I was tiny and excited. I could now hold up three (or four) fingers when people asked how old I was. As a "big girl" now, I remember seeing Barney, or rather, a man dressed in a costume as Barney, and he sang "Happy Birthday" to me. I felt so special and grown up. It was the best birthday of my three or four-year old life.

Until my sixth (or seventh) birthday, Barney just couldn't compare to my Lion King themed birthday. My house had transformed into a jungle of balloons, streamers, cakes, and of course, Simba, Timon, Pumba and a lot of hakuna matatas. After about two minutes of feeling pretty awesome, I realized it was present time, and when you're six (or seven,) you don't think about the wrapping paper or the bows that your parents spend hours putting together. You just rip the presents apart. So as you can tell, six (or seven) was a great birthday.

But when you're little, nothing's as cool as the big 1-0. That's right, turning 10 was a big deal. And that year, it was all about the presents. I remember getting the American Girl doll I wanted. When I tore open that present, I screamed with joy. It wasn't any American Girl doll. It was Molly, the one who looked like me in doll form. She had braided pigtails and big wire-rimmed glasses. Yep, that pretty much describes me at 10. I couldn't ask for anything better…until my 11th birthday, when I finally got a tiger Furby and a baby Furby, those little-gremlin toys that talked and bit your finger. If you're a parent or kid, you remember that they were sold out at every Wal-Mart and Target. Boy was I lucky!

Then I turned 13. Since I was no longer a "tween," it was a big day so it was time to celebrate in a grown, teenage way. Yep, it was time to have a co-ed party, and it was quite the experience: One boy and about 10 girls. I remember that birthday really well. Truth or dare and someone daring one of the girl's to rip off that boy's shirt. Then, mom stepped in. Bit of a change from my Lion King birthday. So eventually the boy went home, and we girls, well, we finally calmed down and we watched Steven King's "It." I guess we ate too much cake and pixie sticks that day, because it was a non-stop giggle fest. Pennywise the clown and his creepy sharp teeth and sewer-home couldn't frighten us. So 13 is a birthday that I will never forget.

Then, my sweet 16 finally rolled around, although some things weren't that sweet. I took my driver's permit test that day and failed by about half a point. So I figured if I couldn't drive, I would use my feet to get places, and I did. I remember running about seven or eight miles that day in 20 degree weather through the snow. After about the fourth mile, I forgot about that I had failed my test. It was great until that night. I realized I couldn't drive so my grandpa drove my friends and me to the theater. I'm glad he fell asleep in the theater. If you've seen the movie Closer, you know what I'm talking about. So needless to say, my 16th was pretty interesting.

By my 17th birthday I was going places….literally. I had finally gotten my driver's license, so I took a road trip to visit my college friends in Rochester, N.Y. I remember feeling pretty darn cool. My 18th birthday was co-ed, but the boy-girl ratio was better than 9 girls to one boy. Then I turned 21, the next big milestone. No more Lion King, American girl dolls or creepy clown movies. I traded that in for a birthday with my college buddies at Buffalo Wild Wings. I did get a few presents, but I only remember one of them: red hair dye. I guess someone was giving me a hint.

So on my birthday two days ago, I spent my time working and remembering my birthdays. And I realized that a birthday doesn't have to be "dreaded." All my birthdays got better by the year, and I hope the same for you!