"I don't want it, I don't need it."

Esther just had her 87th birthday. She celebrated it exactly the way she wanted to. She did her usual routine of telephoning days before to let us know that she did not want anything for her birthday and she did not want to come to dinner. She didn't even want a phone call. She got exactly what she wanted. She did call up the night before and say that what she wanted was for Jerry to come over and help her fill out her ballot for the election. He did that. I used to think that she didn't mean it, that she secretly wanted us to pay her some attention. After many unsuccessful attempts over the years, I finally realized that she really didn't want to celebrate it. "I don't want it, I don't need it."