I initially sat down to write this article on a Sunday morning, which happened to be my 44th birthday. I have somewhat successfully dodged the question we all hear in the days and weeks leading up to that day: “What do you want for your birthday?”
I can be a bit of a Scrooge about birthdays, I’ll admit. Going through the thought process of telling someone else what to get me feels selfish and an improper use of my and their time.
I know…I need to get over it and just be complicit.
That morning, I was my in my usual restless temperament, with extended family in the house and everyone else still sleeping. I couldn’t curb my anxiety over wanting to be silently productive (folding laundry was the other option). My wife’s voice was in my head saying “Do what you want to do on your birthday”. So, with the first couple of hours of my birthday, I’ll write.
Since it was my birthday and I wanted to do a little work, I naturally thought about your birthday. Rather, “our” birthday. Furthermore, that big birthday that is coming in 2026. Memphis Medical Society will be one hundred fifty years old. That is really sinking in for me. A century and a half. Seven score and ten years. Fifteen decades.
I try to be ever mindful that our board, staff, and
I are the shepherds of this 150-year-old child that was born out of a need to assemble and mobilize physicians with a purpose for improving patient care and the practice of medicine. With that in mind, I have to ask you that same question that
I don’t like receiving: “What do you want for your birthday?”.
You’re getting something, whether you like it or not. It might as well be something that you enjoy or that you can use. Sound familiar? Don’t be a curmudgeon like me.
Soon, we will be launching a survey to hear and read those birthday wishes. I hope you’ll take the 10-15 minutes required to fill it out. Expect to see a QR code in the next Quarterly and a couple (not ten) emails to request your response. If you have an opinion, but just can’t bear to complete the survey, email me at ccummins@mdmemphis.org. Let’s make it the best birthday ever!
