There are several disadvantages to being born on New Year's Day. One seldom gets a party on the actual birthday because, it being a holiday, many people prefer staying home. Your parents might be tired most of the day from the New Year's Eve party they attended the night before. The weather is very unpredictable the first of the year.
The worst thing about having your birthday on the first of January is that many people simply give you one gift at Christmas and at the bottom of the card they scrawl, "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!"
The only advantage to being a New Year's baby is that for the rest of your life you can always tell exactly how old you are without having to do much math.
It was many years later that I also realized that New Year's babies are conceived on or around April Fools' Day.
Throughout my childhood Mama and Papa gave me a birthday party every year. Some years our parties were very simple, just the three of us, and every now and then they would invite a few others.
On January 1, 1963, when I turned seven, Mama and Papa invited the Watson family, Jeannie and her sister Terry, and Mr and Mrs England over for cake and ice cream in the White Room. Everyone brought gifts. Janey wanted to play with my gifts and Papa made me share, which was not among my greater skills.
Just before I succumbed into a good long pout, Papa reached into his pocket and pulled out a final gift. It was wrapped in beautiful paper, not the bright bold wrapping paper used for a child's birthday gift. It was elegant, silver embossed designs against a white background. I thought it was the prettiest wrapping paper I had ever seen.
It was the first gift of my life that I did not tear into. Instead, I carefully separated it at the taped seams and opened it gently, as one does a treasure. Under the beautiful paper was a narrow burgundy leather box. Inside the box was an exquisite mechanical pencil and pen set, and they were each engraved with the words "Kate Arlene Morgenstern."
I touched them, but I didn't take them out of their case. I just stared at them in awe.
Timmy, who was standing next to me, craned his head to see them, then said, "Well, what's the fun in those?" Disinterested, he slouched away. Danny didn't say anything. He smiled politely and joined his brother. Mrs England oohed a little, and Jeannie and Terry glanced at them dispassionately. Even Janey wasn't interested in playing with the pen and pencil.
"Who are they from?" I asked Papa.
"Well, I'm not sure," Papa teased me. Then, pulling out a small envelope from another pocket, he handed it to me and said, "Maybe this will help. It came with the box."