Happy birthday! Do birthday really make people happy? Of course they do. Birthday celebrate the day when we were born. Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggest another year of growth and maturity(成熟)－or so we hope. We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older. Most of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others, as well. For instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud. For Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful process. But growing old? That is a different story.
