I've only made a big deal of my birthday five times.
The first was when I turned 13 (a teenager!) 16 (drivers license!), 18
(on my own!), 21 (full adult!) and 66 (retired!). Otherwise they were just another day.
You don't retire at 65 there? I thought you retired, but were pulled back in, & are now planning to retire again soon?
I've only had two real birthday acknowledgements -- Age 19, when my girlfriend was planning a surprise party, but I blew it by predicting the date, time, & location, 5 days ahead of it.
Then at 40 when another girlfriend(ok, we were too old for those particular labels, but you get my drift) took me across the street to the pub; tried to have them give me a cake she'd brought, but they forbade that, then when she began taking photos of me, they balked & pointed out that it's actually illegal to use a camera in a drinking establishment here (I'm blaming married cheater pols who are afraid of facts creating election-painful scandals)
I wasn't happy with service that day at all -- the waitress pent her time mugging for tips to a group of loud 20-something "bros" whom she could flirt her way into bigger tips -- smart enough to realize a guy on a date with his woman isn't open to this but not smart enough to realize I was a regular customer with a memory.
But I was still touched that someone took the time to plan some t hing for my birthday. That same year (of turning 40) whenever a mate asked what I wanted, I said lunch out for AYCE Japanese at my favourite joint -- got a few of those that week! Now it's just routine, acknowledged with a greeting & card, but mostly only by Facebook messages in response to FB telling them it was my birthday that day..
I'm fine, but I'm demanding a big deal when I hit 100, & every 50 years after!
--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)