Birthdays are always special. For a Bahamian born on July 10, 1973, it's a double joy. They celebrate not only themselves, but with the nation. (And it's almost impossible for loved ones to concoct stories of forgetting the day.)

Linda Dorsette-Munroe will turn 50 on Monday.

The Bahamas celebrates its 50th Anniversary of Independence on Monday.

Dorsette-Munroe was one of 20 people - 11 females and nine males - born in The Bahamas on that day, according to figures from the Registrar General's Department. They were born on July 10, 1973, when the population was estimated at 189,900 according to then Department of Statistics (now Bahamas National Statistical Institute.)

As Dorsette-Munroe "knocks on the door" of her half-century mark, she says it is special.

"I give God thanks and praise to be turning 50 when I look around and see young people get killed. I give God all thanks and praise for bringing me to this point."

It's a day that she holds dear.

"When it's my birthday, the whole country has to celebrate. We celebrate birthdays at church, I tell them sometimes in certain months, they have more than others born in that month, but I tell the joke that when it's my birthday, the whole country has to celebrate."

Slavery was officially abolished in The Bahamas in 1838. Many former slaves remained on the land and eventually became landowners themselves.

Although all residents of The Bahamas were free, the islands remained a colony of the United Kingdom, although much of the day-to-day governing of the country was actually based in The Bahamas. This was a major factor that led to a peaceful negotiation for independence.

In 1964, after decades of debate and legal maneuvering, Great Britain granted The Islands of The Bahamas limited self-government. In 1969, The Bahamas finally became a British Commonwealth, which effectively ended colonial rule.

The Bahama Islands became a sovereign nation on July 10, 1973, ending 325 years of British rule.

One minute to midnight on July 9, the Union Jack was lowered for the last time as the official flag of The Bahamas. One minute after midnight on July 10, a reported crowd of 50,000 saw the black, turquoise and gold flag of The Bahamas raised.

It was on that day that Dorsette-Munroe's mother, Margaret Johnson, gave birth to her.

Dorsette-Munroe who is employed as a security officer, said when she is asked for her date of birth, she proudly states she was born on July 10, 1973.

A co-worker overheard her once and commented on her pride.

"I told them I am extremely proud because that was the day God allowed me to come into this world. When I reached the age of realization and I realized that the whole country celebrates, I was extremely proud."

Dorsette-Munroe plans to celebrate her birthday by attending church on Sunday morning, for her regular worship. It will also be a dual celebration for her as she celebrates her seventh wedding anniversary. She married her husband Brian on July 9.

Dorsette-Munroe, a mother of five - three girls and two boys – said her children have plans to take her out to dinner to celebrate her 50th birthday. And to take in the Independence Tattoo.

Recalling her younger years, Dorsette-Munroe, says she has a number of special memories surrounding her birthday and the birthday of the nation.

"One of the things I always reflected on ... when I was 10-years-old and they had four of us [July 10, 1973 born children] at ZNS with Virginia Smith and that was the first time I heard Priscilla Rollins sing 'Independence Morning'."

She said she was watching television recently when a clip of Rollins appeared on the screen. She said it gave her goosebumps.

"I also remember the 40th one [Independence celebration], they had us out there and gave us tickets and we were able to sit down and watch the show right out front; they gave us valet parking and invitation to Government House."

She said "someone reached out" to her from a government ministry to inquire if she was interested in participating in celebrations on Clifford Park for the 50th Anniversary and was told someone would contact her. Up to yesterday, she said they had not called back.

Dorsette-Munroe who is a member of an elite group, said she has not kept in contact with the other Independence Day born people that she met through the years.

"At the 40th celebration I exchanged numbers with someone, but that phone got damaged, and I got a new phone and I lost that contact. I didn't have her number by the time another birthday rolled around, the phone was destroyed and I no longer had the number."

She knows that she and everyone born on Independence Day in 1973 belong to a special club, and finds it disappointing that they don't know each other.

"At this point, we really should have known who each other is and have contact with each other."

This year, she plans to get the contacts of everyone she meets.

"I have no idea who all is still alive from then to now. Who may have passed away or still be living or in bed with affliction."

Dorsette-Munroe's parents also inculcated a sense of pride in their daughter in the day she was born.

Her mom she said always made sure that she had a cake to cut for every birthday, and talked to her about how special her birthday is. Her dad, she said never failed to call to wish her happy birthday and to tell her to give God thanks for another year. She said he would also speak to her about his pride in having a daughter born on Independence Day. She said her sisters always said their daddy only seemed to remember the day she was born.

As Dorsette-Munroe and The Bahamas celebrate 50 years, she says it will be different for her, because her 86-year-old father, Zacharius Dorsette, has dementia and sometimes does not remember who she is, so he can't call her to say what he always had.

"When he came here the other Sunday, he said to me 'I haven't seen you for a long time, my good friend.' I said I ain't that old. My sister said to him that's your daughter, not your friend."

Her mother is also suffering with bone cancer.

Dorsette-Munroe's lone regret: "I would have liked to be more far ahead than I am right now in life, but for me, I just give God thanks and praise for where I am and I continue to trust in him that one day as my mom says of this unfriendly world, I would be in a better position than I am now.

"But I realize in life you have your good and your bad challenges. I said well ... I had my challenges as well, but the problem is you have to know the source which is Jesus the Christ, once you turn it over to him you will be alright. Once you know that's who to go to, you will be alright."

As Dorsette-Munroe prepares to celebrate her 50th birthday, she is most proud of her daughter Caitlyn Munroe who has graduated high school this year and is a member of the Bahamas National Youth Choir and preparing to travel to New York to perform and who placed third in singing in the Teen Talent competition at the Church of God and will travel to Cleveland, Tennessee on July 30 to compete.

Especially as she says her life has not always been easy.

Speaking with The Nassau Guardian in 2017, Dorsette-Munroe said over the years she had "rough patches".

"I've had life struggles like everyone else," she said.

Dorsette-Munroe, a 1990 graduate of the then H.O. Nash Secondary School, said she struggled academically as a student and did the best she could, but that she always wanted more for her children and encouraged them to work hard.

She previously told The Nassau Guardian that she encouraged them to embrace every opportunity and do the best that they could to achieve whatever they could.

According to data published by the United Nations Population Division, an estimated 121,831,979 babies were born throughout the world in the year 1973; the estimated number of babies born on July 10, 1973 was 333,786.

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