Never having received a birthday greeting from your parents.

by Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice. 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice.

  My wife turned fifty five the other day and I pen this from her perspective.

  "Happy Birthday". A harmless, yet meaningful expression of recognition from one's parents that they appreciate having brought you into the world. For many it is a special day to be remembered, and to acknowledge that you are remembered.

  In all her years of life my wife has never been given a birthday greeting from her parents. She is now so far removed from the witness life of her childhood that she no longer cares, but surely for many it must raise doubts and insecurities about their relationship with their parents, that their parents cannot express some sort of joy and remembrance over the fact that they brought a child into the world.

  But then again, we must take into account that these parents are jws, for whom it should not be underestimated what they may be likely to do for the sake of their deluded bible beliefs. Birthdays = glorifying self = idolatry = one pissed off jehovah = bird fodder.

  Cheeses. Just another reason why jws and their religion are disgusting.
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  Black Sheep

  I've never had one from any of my family. I take off and celebrate it with my friends.
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  carla

  When my jw first joined up I cannot even describe the pain of my kids when he would not even say Happy Birthday! Keep in mind he had always done so before and not only that but often helped make their parties extra fun!

  When outsiders hear that my jw will not acknowledge any of our birthdays they are disgusted.

  I could tell some stories but they would give me away.

  How they can celebrate the 'birth' of their union (anniversary) but cannot celebrate the birth of a child is beyond most peoples comprehension.
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  mrsjones5

  My mother used to call me on my birthday to remind me that I didn't officially turn whatever age until 7:30 pm. It's as close as she ever got to saying happy birthday to me. Some sort of happy acknowledgement of my birth would have been nice but considering the crazy cult she's stuck in I understand why she and my father couldn't (and still can't) do so. That doesn't mean I feel any better about it, it is what it is.

  At least my children's birthdays are acknowledged and celebrated. I get to live and enjoy those moments with them.
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  Heartofaboy

  My parents now deeply regret not recognising our birthdays when we were kids.

  Of course it is now too late to change what happened & it hurts me to see their remorse now they are advanced in years.

  I don't blame them, they were hoodwinked by the Borg into thinking it was the channel god was using & that our eternal life depended on listening to it & obeying it.
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  Disillusioned Lost-Lamb

  Never got any happy birthdays form my parents, but my unbelieving grandparents always gave us money.

  The screwed up part is my parents would not allow them to send it in a "birthday" card; yet it came on our birthday, they always wrote happy birthday in the card and we got to keep the money.

  Say whaaaa?

  How is getting a funny card with happy birthday hand written in it any different?

  And

  The last time I checked, money could be thought of as a gift, so why did they allow the birthday "gift"?

  They did this at christmas too!
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  Band on the Run

  YOu have me in tears. I was fortunate compared to most. My mom always acknowledged my birthday. While my father was at work, we had wonderful birthday parties. It was never unbridled joy, though. Armageddon was on my mind. I could celebrate at school but I was very nervous. My father and gm would have killed us.

  It reminds me of the yearly ritual of going to Macy's toy department when i was young with my gm and aunt. I looked forward to it all year. They always bought me a gift but made it clear it had nothing to do with Christmas. I could not sit on Santa's lap which annoyed me no end. Macy's may be see me this year. Just being in Macy's Herald Square was so special b/c somehow we always ended up walking the Thanksgiving Day parade route but not for Thanksgiving Day. My mom loved the balloons.

  If anyone is in the NY area, the night before the parade by the Museum of Natural History, the balloons are filled. It is like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I first stumbled upon it by accident. A lot of people turn up. The police can only allow in so many a time.

  I am ever grateful my mother tried to be obedient but had nagging doubts.
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  I Want to Believe

  I never cared about my birthday or any of the holidays, and even now don't have any desire to join in celebrating them. I feel like I missed a lot of things growing up JW, but all the expected/mandatory gift recieving/giving I could happily do without.

  This year, my parents tried to do a "Family Day" for all the children and grandchildren, with wrapped presents and everything, and if that's what birthday/holiday parties are like, I didn't miss much.

  I won't be holding my son back from such occasions anymore, but still don't see what the attraction is.
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  mamamo
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  jamiebowers

  I feel like I missed a lot of things growing up JW, but all the expected/mandatory gift recieving/giving I could happily do without.

  Birthdays are so much more than that! Most important is that a person is told how special it is that he or she is on this planet. And particularly for small children, celebrating other people's birthdays teaches them that everyone deserves a special day. Example: I have two granddaughters that are about four months apart in age. When the older one turned three last week, the slightly younger girl was a little upset that there were no gifts for her. But we explained that she would have her own gifts at her birthday party, and she was fine. Al four of the grandkids are pretty good about sharing their books, games, movies and toys, but they're very aware of what belongs to whom, because most of the hings they have are from Santa or their birthdays.