She is vivacious, so I am not surprised when Nana Ama, the celebrant I am interviewing, says about herself: “I am a very happy-go-lucky person and optimistic to a fault. I love the design business. As a child, my mom would drop me off at my uncle’s on weekends, and I would be given an easel as soon as I got there to express my creativity.” I can see that Nana Ama is a proper ‘birthday person,’ and I feel the nostalgia in her voice as she gives a rundown of why she always celebrates her birthday. “I blame my love for birthdays on my father,” she says with a chuckle. Being his only daughter, my dad doted on me. There was never a single birthday that I did not celebrate. Then she lowers her voice and says softly and lovingly, “You won’t believe it, but my dad never celebrated himself.” I can see that she misses him. “Yes,” she says coming back to the present, “I am a proper birthday person.” Obviously so, because her fortieth birthday celebration was the talk of the town for days on end. So, I am quite surprised when she says of the day: “The interesting thing is, I never meant to celebrate my fortieth birthday. For some reason, I was bored with celebrations. Being an event planner, I felt like I had seen it all. Anyway, two and a half weeks to my birthday, and I began to have a change of heart.” Looking through her fortieth milestone birthday pictures, I can’t help but add ‘wacky’ to her list of personality traits. The reason? The ‘crazy’ theme she chose for her birthday. I want to know why she chose such a theme. “I knew that whatever theme I chose had to be different enough to excite me. Now, forty years old was a new phase for me, an entry into the future. Thus, the ‘futuristic’ theme.” Futuristic Festivities February “ N A N A A M A Nana Ama’s Unforgettable 40th Birthday Bash 11 The Birthday Journal
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