I tweeted about this on Friday (@morebirthdays), but what a great story this is, out of Springfield, Missouri–a 4-year old cancer survivor got his wish to be a fireman, at least for a day, to celebrate his big day.
From KSPR in Springfield:
As the fire truck rolled into Station One, on board was a very special firefighter—4 year old Jackson Wolfe.
Wolfe is a young cancer survivor.
So, a group of Springfield firefighters wanted their profession to be his reality for a day.
“He really liked watching the vehicles pull off in the ditch when we were going down through there. He was kind of upset when we had to turn everything back off,” said firefighter Scott Owens.
While eating some pizza, Jackson opened up to his dad about the ride in the firetruck.
“Did you have a lot of fun on the firetruck? I did. What did it do? It put it’s siren on. When we were in it, it wasn’t very loud,” said Wolfe.
Jackson will also take a trip to Disney World in September with his family. So happy birthday Jackson! Here’s to many more birthdays.
At a summit last week, South African President Jacob Zuma surprised his political rival, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, with a special birthday cake, and temporarily settled political differences as the two joked and enjoyed a round of “Happy Birthday” on what could have been a contentious day.
From the South African newspaper, The Times:
President Jacob Zuma surprised his political opponent, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, with a large chocolate birthday cake this afternoon.
“We just have a small cake to say happy birthday to you,” Zuma said to Buthelezi after meeting opposition leaders at Tuynhuys in Cape Town.
“Why do you do this to me?” a smiling Buthelezi said.
The opposition leaders, who were reported to have held “frank” and “constructive” discussions, launched into a rendition of “Happy Birthday” and “How Old Can You Be”.
“Among us there is one who has a birthday – I am not sure if he is the youngest or the eldest,” Zuma said before unveiling the cake.
Buthelezi, 81, laughed and shook hands with opposition party leaders as he sliced up the cake, which had the message “Happy Birthday Prince Buthelezi” iced onto it.
What a sweet story. Let’s hope we can all learn a lesson about the power of birthdays, and here’s to more birthdays for us all.
25 years ago today, the space shuttle Discovery took its first journey into space. I’m still amazed that something as massive as the shuttle, which weighs more than 4.5 MILLION lbs (on this planet, anyway), can be launched into space as gracefully as it looks from here on the ground.
I’ve never had the chance to see a launch in person, but I’ve heard it’s a real treat. Discovery, one of three shuttles in the NASA fleet, has made history in many of its 36 missions, being the shuttle which launched the Hubble telescope and the shuttle that took John Glenn into space (making him the oldest person to do so).
Discovery lifted off for its 37th mission on Saturday, to rotate the crew on the International Space Station. I wonder if they have freeze-dried birthday cake… 
Well, congratulations Discovery. Here’s to many more successful missions and many more birthdays.
Michael Jackson’s music touched millions of lives (there was many a time when I could be heard belting out Billy Jean in the shower), and his tragic passing saddened us all. So tonight, thousands of fans plan to turn out in Brooklyn to pay tribute to the King of Pop on his birthday at a massive celebration organized by film director Spike Lee (we blogged about this a few weeks ago here).
So many people are expected at the party–five times as many as was originally planned, says Rolling Stone–that Brooklyn police asked that it be moved from its original location in nearby Ft Green Park to Nethermead meadow, which can accommodate up to 10,000 people. Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz will also be on hand to declare the day Michael Jackson Day in Brooklyn.
The festivities are set to begin at 5pm, rain or shine.
Are you one of the lucky people who have had their friends or family throw them a surprise birthday party? Lucky you.
So I got to thinking, ‘why do I have to wait for my surprise party to come to me? I’ll just throw myself a surprise party.’ I mean, we all know what kind of party we want for ourselves, right? Well, I went searching for answers on if this was appropriate etiquette and low and behold (as always!), Miss Manners came to the rescue as she once offered up advice on this topic to a reader who had the same idea:
Dear Miss Manners: May I give myself a surprise birthday party? My plan is to invite friends to what will seem to be an ordinary dinner party and then, for dessert, to bring out a candle-studded cake and announce my birthday. I expect that someone will then start a chorus of “Happy Birthday,” and that as we all have coffee and cake, and everyone can protest that they would have brought a gift or card if they had known. To which I will reply that I have what I wanted for my birthday: They came to my party. This is a way to truly enforce the “no gifts” that no one quite knows how to interpret, although I suppose that I might get belated birthday cards as thank-you notes. Can I play the same trick in succeeding years, hoping that those who recognize the date will just play along with me and let the surprise be on whoever happens to be new or to have forgotten?
Gentle Reader: That is exactly the trick that Miss Manners proposes in place of the awkwardness of instructing guests not to give presents, which presupposes that they were otherwise expected to do so. Not a nice assumption on the part of a host. And besides, they do anyway.
What a great idea, if I do say so myself. I should start writing these things down. 
So get the invitations ready, prep the balloons, its time to throw a surprise party! Hope it’s a great one and here’s to many more.
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Happy birthday, Shaq!
This weekend, my 12-year old daughter and her friends are hosting a surprise birthday sleepover for one of their friends whose mother lost her very short battle with lung cancer this past July. Each year, her Mom would have a huge sleepover birthday party for her which all the girls looked forward to. This will be the first birthday she will have without her Mom and it will probably be difficult for her and her Dad and brothers.
