Various birthdays have significant meaning, as they are transitions.

18 makes you an adult.  21 makes you a real adult.

25 marks your 1/4 century, the precursor to getting old.

30 marks the end of your wild ages.  And 40, well at that point you are entering your dotage in some peoples minds such that many lie and claim to be 39 for a few years running.

And don’t start with 50.

So today was my birthday and it was….none of the above.

48 actually.  And yet, even though it was not one of those traditionally intense days, I still found it a remarkable one.

This year has been a strange and remarkable year, what with my children scattering to the winds and my divorce looming.  This birthday I had figured to be a low key, uneventful and forgotten one.

It was anything but, really.

I headed to my dad’s house on the Peninsula and expected a nice dinner and such, but instead it was a fairly wild day.

First we got to see one of the Seattle Ferries ram the dock, something they typically try to avoid.

One witness described it thus:

The fog was thick for this morning’s 10:35am sailing of the Wenatchee from Bainbridge Island to Seattle. From my usual spot in the galley area, I occasionally glanced up from my Kindle to look out the window, only to be greeted with a thick gray cloud in my field of vision. As we got near shore on the Seattle side, I suddenly saw Ivar’s zipping past at a speed considerably faster than what I’d normally expect for the morning commute. The ferry gave 5 short blasts on the horn to indicate imminent collision, followed by a loud bang and a jolt to the ferry. Down the aisle someone shouted for a doctor on board.

I went out on the front of the ferry to see what happened. All things considered, the damage looks minor, as you can see in the pictures here. As far as I can tell only one woman was injured and the resulting injuries appeared to be minor.

From the shore, I was in the 4th car in the first loading lane and I had a clear view.  I was remarking to my daughter how eerie it was watching the ferry just slowly appear in the fog.  I looked down, heard the 5 blasts and looked up wondering why he was honking, it being an unusual pattern.

I saw how fast it was coming in and essentially said holy crap he’s coming in fast.  And then they hit, just as Jake said.

The thud was pretty impressive.  Looking at the pictures on Jake’s blog, I can now clearly see the damage. 

So much for Uneventful.

A hour and a half late we made it to my dads, and I got to meet my step sister for the first time, along with her husband and kids.

And my son also came so it was actually a very nice relaxing dinner.

The set of golf clubs my dad gave me was a bonus.

All during the day my cell phone was buzzing with either text messages , or facebook alerts for comments or posts, from friends and family all wishing me a happy birthday.  I also had some wonderful emails as well.

So much for Forgotten.

Sure, it was low key, no wild party or massive celebration, but it was beyond my expectations none the less.

Bottom line:

My Friends Rock.  My Family Rocks.  All of them did a great job of making me feel loved on a day where I wasn’t really expecting much.

Sometimes life jumps out at you, when you least expect it, and gives you a kick in your pants when you need it.

We all should remember that.

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