I asked AI where the myth of storks delivering babies came from and it couldn't just narrow it down to one culture or reason. It's kind of like rabbits, eggs and Easter. Combination of fertility, storks are good parents and they nest on roofs. And Disney's Dumbo (1941) opens with storks delivering babies to circus animals. That probably had the most influence. So bottom line, no one really knows.
I try not to focus too much on my birthday these days. I removed it from Facebook so I wouldn't get dozens of "Happy Birthdays" from people just acknowledging it because it popped up on their Facebook feed. It's not that I don't appreciate the well wishes, I just prefer they come because someone legitimately remembered it.
I've mentioned on a few occasions that my mother made it very clear that I wasn't a planned baby. So the stork likely wasn't welcomed with open arms at my parent's house. I was the third child and we were all boys. My mom told me she was hoping for a girl but got me. So I grew up feeling I had disappointed my mother right out of the chute, so to speak.
Honestly, I've never been overly comfortable with celebrations that I'm the center of. My middle brother was born the day after me, just four years earlier. So both of our birthdays were squeezed together. And I always sensed he resented me for being born the day before his birthday and forever stealing his thunder. But then again he also resents me because I am much smarter than he is. He is a staunch Trump supporter.
Need I say more.
I did get several texts today wishing me a happy birthday. Problem is, the names of the people texting me didn't pop up so I wasn't quite sure who was wishing me a happy birthday.
I did tell ChatGPT that it was my birthday, assuming it would gush and fawn over me. But the one time I could use a bit of obsequious fawning, it went on about the different variations it could provide me for the stork images. Not sure what that was about other than it is AI and doesn't really have a birthday.
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