“Age is just a number!” – “You’re only as old as you feel!” – “Life begins at 40..!” – and so on, and so forth – the cliches are endless!! And as much as I’d like to believe that nothing has changed, the truth is that somehow, 40 feels a little different. There’s the shock, of course – What? How did this happen? I’m 40!! Wasn’t I 27 just yesterday??!! Even more shocking – turning 40 did not automatically bestow upon me the mantle of wisdom and maturity I was expecting – or does that happen at 50?? I suspect that I’m going to have wait a long time for mine!!

Unlike so many others, I wasn’t really freaked out about turning 40!! And I’ll admit this – Ajey turning 40 bothered me far more – Heavens! I’m married to a 40 year old!! What really keeps age in perspective for me is my mom and my grandma – can you imagine having a 40 year old grand-daughter – just the thought is scary!! And my mom is young – when she turned 40, I was already 21, getting ready to leave home. Again, very scary – I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to have a grown-up daughter right now!! See, it’s really all about perspective!!

Any way you look at it, 40 really is quite the landmark! And my lovely husband went all out to make it a really, really memorable birthday!! To surprise me, he invited my parents and my sister here – if it had all worked out to his plan, they would have been on my doorstep on my birthday – anyway, logistics didn’t quite work out, I found out mid-February, and they flew in a couple of weeks after my birthday! What an amazing birthday present – the best I could’ve asked for!! Seriously, Ajey had been plotting with my sister since November to pull it all together – and I didn’t have a clue!! But wait, it gets better…

So, the day before my birthday – I’m grocery shopping with Manasi – and I decide to buy a cake for myself. In my mind – Ajey has already outdone himself with the whole inviting my family thing – he doesn’t have to buy a cake to make me feel special – besides, I’m at the store, I’ll just save him a trip!! Manasi put her foot down, though – she just would not let me buy my own cake – and then she grabbed my phone, had a furious whispered conversation with her dad – and said we had to go home, and so we did!! Oh well, she can have her little secrets – bless her soul!!

Plans for my birthday – well, India was playing Pakistan in the T20 World Cup playoffs – how cool is it that they scheduled it on my birthday!! Ajey had a couple of invitations to watch the match at a friends’ house – so he left about halfway through. India won – but naturally – how would I have the most awesome birthday otherwise!! Manasi and I then met Ajey for lunch – and over Jimmy John subs, with much fanfare, Manasi handed me a birthday card – her big surprise!! We did have separate cars, so when Ajey said he was going to run by Menards, I chose to go home – and I really wanted a cake, so stopped in Hyvee on the way home, and picked up a decadent White Chocolate Raspberry cake!!

Cake and a snooze on the couch – best day ever!! Over tea, we’re discussing where to go for dinner – we had planned on Indian, but not really that hungry – so where else, how about a quick run to Taco Bell? Through all this, Manasi is on the couch, glowering at Ajey – and I’m beginning to wonder why. A little bit later, V and A show up – I’m still completely oblivious – well, they’re family, and nothing out of the ordinary for them to come home and wish me, right?? As I’m offering them cake, the doorbell rings again, and it’s one of our friends, the Js. Wait a minute, can it be..?? Is it really…? I’m beginning to catch on…my husband has me surprised once again – by pulling off a surprise birthday party!!

And what a party he had planned – invited all our friends – including one who took me out to lunch a day before, and didn’t breathe a word!! Ordered food – appetizers and biryani from Haldi, pizza for the kids, stocked our downstairs fridge with drinks, even bought disposable plates, cutlery and glasses!! And let’s not forget the humongous cake – I can’t believe he actually let me go buy a cake for myself – when he had this whole extravaganza planned!! The basement was where the action was – what else, dancing to Bollywood hits!! And oh, that’s why Manasi was mad – she was confused when Ajey started talking dinner plans -are we having the party or not, Dad?! She didn’t get that Ajey was just humoring me, leading me along – I can’t believe how clueless I was!!

And he was far from done – by 11:30pm, I was beginning to wonder if we should wrap up the dancing, and let people eat – and then the doorbell rang again – and this time it was all our China expat friends – they had been playing Euchre at a friends’ house, and Ajey had asked them to stop by for cake after they were done playing. We had been waiting for them to cut the cake!! Seriously, at that point, I was totally overwhelmed. All these dear friends, here to celebrate my birthday, truly one for the books! And Ajey, well he now has enough brownie points to last him a long, long time – can’t thank him enough!! Husband of the Year? – right here, folks!!