5 min read
Birthday pages that are not just a card
They will get thirty near-identical messages today and remember none of them by the weekend. The advantage of a page is that it is still there next year.
Look backwards before you look forwards
The best birthday pages review the year they actually had — including the months nobody made a fuss of. That is what turns a greeting into a gift.
Most people get through a hard stretch without anyone marking it. Marking it late still counts.
Wishes, not compliments
Write what you hope the year gives them rather than a list of their good qualities. It is warmer, far less awkward to read, and much harder to write generically.
Six is the number. Three feels thin and ten stops being read.
Say the thing nobody says to them
Everybody tells them they are kind. Find the observation that is true and unsaid — that things do not fall over when they are holding them, and almost nobody notices how rare that is.
The same thing, written badly and written well
Happy birthday to the most amazing person I know!
You had a bad January and turned up every day of it anyway.
Hope you have the best day ever.
Today you do not have to be useful to anybody. That is the present.
If you are stuck
Answer one of these honestly and you will have the sentence the page needs.
- 01What did they get through this year that nobody made a fuss of?
- 02What do you hope is different for them by next birthday?
- 03What is something they want but never ask for?
- 04What would you say if you were not worried about being sentimental?
