In Support Of The Half-Birthday

I'm writing this entry on my half-birthday.  It's six months from my last birthday, and six months to my next birthday.  The question is, do half-birthdays mean anything?

I never used to think so.  Growing up with an August birth month, I never had a school day where others might have recognized even my regular birthday.  It was kind of a bummer when you were youngster, watching everybody else get attention on their birthday that you never got.

Things are a bit different now.  Back then no one celebrated half-birthdays in schools like some elementary classes do now, which is a very nice thing for us summer birthday people.

Also, as I've aged I've paid more attention to half-birthdays, at least my own.  We only have a certain number of trips around the sun, and nowadays I kind of like to mark the halfway point for some perspective on how things are going.

Also, there's at least one half-birthday that's somewhat consequential in America.  That's when a person reach age 59.5, which makes them eligible for penalty-free withdrawals from most retirement accounts.  It's not much, but for people thinking about retiring, it's something.

So let's give it up for the half-birthday.  Why celebrate only once in 365 days when it can be done twice?