What’s more exciting to a kid than his or her own birthday! Wow! A day when you get to spend time with your friends eating cake and ice cream, running around, playing party games, and best of all, you get presents! What could be better?

As we get older, the hectic pace of working, raising kids, taking care of aging parents and maintaining a house, along with other burdens can sour us on celebrating birthdays. It seems like too much effort, or silly. After all, a birthday, like Christmas, is for kids, right?

I say no! Our birthday is the only day of the year when we are the stars of the show—a chance for our friends and family to celebrate our very existence, to tell us that we matter.

That’s why I love birthdays. It’s fun to have a special dinner, to sing the birthday song, and eat ice cream and cake like a kid. Gifts are not required as far as I’m concerned. But a birthday card should be a requirement. It’s fun to open cards that friends and family have chosen for us, whether they are funny, sarcastic, a little racy or sentimental.

I hope you celebrate your birthday, no matter what your age is—whether you’re 9 years young—or 99 years old.