For me, getting or sending happy birthday cards has always been an afterthought. I would pick up a happy birthday greeting card as I stopped by the drug store on the way to a friend’s birthday party, I would put my signature on it and maybe a little note, and tape it to the top of the gift that I had already bought. It never came to my mind that a happy birthday card could be anything but a cheap, basic greeting. It is really nothing more than a formality – something to prove that you had thought of your pal enough to give them your best wishes along with your gift. I never thought about the variety of birthday gift cards accessible, and the way some of them have been created.

That all changed when I fist received an happy birthday e-card from one of my friends. If you do not know what a birthday e-card is, it is basically a greeting card that you can transmit over the Internet to someone on his birthday. The very first one I received was in fact one of those animated happy birthday cards. It came with a whole flash animation, complete with a story. Basically, it was a character thinking about all the things that he wanted to get for his birthday.

However, all he got at the end was happy birthday cards. I believe that the gift that the character was offered was in fact supposed to be the happy birthday card that I was receiving at the time. I thought it was cute and funny, but more importantly, it made me understand I could be more creative with my own birthday greetings. Since then, I have tried all kinds of things with happy birthday cards!