What to do when ‘May the Fourth be with you’ is your birthday

Today’s my birthday. Yes, I do get a lot of “May the Fourth be with you” comments. I just shrug it off that my birthday, to some, is an unofficial Star Wars holiday.

Since I’m an older adult, I’m thinking a lot today about friends and relatives that I’ve celebrated birthdays with in the past who are gone.

My favorite birthdays?

One definitely was a surprise birthday party I had when I was 14. I thought I might be having a surprise party because neither of my good friends, Verneta Harris or Betty Holmes, gave me a present during the day when we were at school. They usually did.

So, I rode home on the bus, and there my friends were at my house. Two moms drove the middle-school party goers down the hill from Chelan and across the Columbia River to Orondo in Douglas County to our house at the edge of the apple orchard.

This is me at 14 standing in front of a blooming apple tree.

Diane Smith, left, and Carolyn Loudenback enjoy cake.

My friends decide, for some reason, to pose on an orchard ladder, from top, Linda Blessin, Joanne Davis, Lynne Paulson, Betty Holmes, Carolyn Loudenback, Verneta Harris, Rita Slingsby, Diane Smith. Richard Harris, right.

It was a great memory, and the only surprise party I ever had, I think.

Happy birthday to me. And May the Fourth be with you.

Originally Published on https://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com/the_survive_and_thrive_bo/

Rita Robison Consumer & Personal Finance Journalist

For more than two decades, Rita R. Robison has been a consumer and personal finance journalist making her living by finding the best bargains, calling out the crooks, and advocating for regular people just like you and me. In that time, Robison has talked to so many people who feel like their money just isn’t getting them what they want, where they want to be, or the life they thought it would.

The purpose of her blog is to help you get what you want from your money. Robison covers financial goals, budgets, debt reduction, saving, smart choices for buying goods and services, and retirement planning. You’ll also find articles on safety, such as avoiding scams, looking out for rip off companies, and getting informed on the latest recalls.