Tuesday, August 20, 2013

A different kind of birthday list

A week from today I'm going to be 25 years old--that's 1304 weeks (rounded down), 9131 days, 219,144 hours, 13,148,640 minutes, or 788,918,400 seconds. It's a quarter of a century. It's also the last "exciting" birthday I'm going to have for another five years. Although, somehow, the prospect of turning 30 is not very exciting right now. There's a lot I want to do before then. I want to move back to Washington, get a teaching job somewhere I love, and have children. Mostly I just want to have children. But, more on that some other time.

The point is, whether or not 25 is a big important number, it is the last time I can really be thrilled to get older. After this I just have THIRTY looming ahead of me like a grubby cloud of boring adulthood on the horizon of responsibility. Not that adulthood or responsibility are necessarily bad things, but I certainly do not like associating them with something as lovely as a birthday. And birthdays really are lovely--so lovely, in fact, that I wish I could compile all of my favorite birthday memories and relive them next Tuesday. Of course, I wouldn't have time for all of them, so here are 10 of the memories I would choose to relive.

1. 1993, my 5th birthday. It was the same year that we moved from the tiny town of Trout Creek, Montana to West Seattle, Washington. In Montana, I didn't have a whole lot of friends outside of my family--although I do remember them: Katie (yes, I had a best friend with the same name!), Micah, and Abby. I missed them when we moved but I was so preoccupied with suddenly living close to more of my family that it didn't bother me too much. Needless to say, I didn't have much of a party. But there was an elderly couple down the street, whose names I have forgotten, that gave me some wonderful gifts: a doll, dressed like she was going to boarding school, and a matching outfit for me. I felt so special, so loved. Five-year-olds feel special pretty much 100% of the time, the world is just becoming real and everyone is always impressed with how much you've grown and the new things you're learning. But that day I really felt special, like I was valued, and worth love and attention, even from people who barely knew me.

2. 1995, my 7th birthday, possibly the first birthday I had actually lived somewhere long enough to have a group of friends. I was about to go into 1st grade (the curse of summer birthdays means you're always the oldest or youngest in your class; I was the former) and I had established several good friendships at school and in my neighborhood. I invited all these friends over, and we had a mini scavenger hunt. Despite being a moody teenager, my oldest brother planned it out. We had to find clues around the house and in the yard, and ended up with a cardboard box full of candy. Any 7-year-old would love such treasure!

3. 1998, my 10th birthday. I was finally in the double digits! But the day was quite miserable, to be honest. My grandma, Virginia, took me shopping for some new clothes. Sounds great, right? What girl doesn't want new clothes for her birthday? Except that she was also going shopping for someone's baby shower. All I remember about that day is trying on clothes I didn't like, then Grandma buying the clothes I didn't like, and when we got home I tried to peek at the cute baby stuff she'd bought and I got in trouble for it. So I sat alone in the hallway and cried. I know eventually she came to comfort me, although I couldn't tell you what she said. My reason behind loving this birthday is that it included spending time with Virginia. She was my favorite person. My 10th birthday is the last one I can remember her actually being "all there." (She got Alzheimer's a few years later, and passed away in 2010.)

4. 2003, my 15th birthday. We had moved again, but after 2 years in my new school district I had plenty of awesome new friends too. I was looking forward to being in high school with all the people I'd grown to adore. This was the year I decided my new favorite color was orange, so my three best friends bought me ALL orange things for my birthday--I still have some of those sticky notes. It also happened to be the year after I started taking Spanish, and I discovered La Tomatina. My parents wouldn't let us throw tomatoes, but we did have a sweet water fight with hoses and balloons. 

5. 2004, my 16th birthday. This was the year I went on my first missions trip, and my circle of friends was ginormous and fabulous. The party was about a week after we all returned from the trip, and I wanted it to be a surprise so badly, but I was awful at being surprised. (Still am. Just ask my husband.) My parents set it up at the local Pizza Hut, but I carried my own cake into the restaurant. That's how much of a surprise it was. Despite that setback, the entire party was everything I expected. I was surrounded by loving friends, new and old, and was completely able to be myself around all of them. 
My dramatic 16-year-old self.














6. 2006, my 18th birthday. This was another time I wanted a surprise party, and sort of got one. A dear friend of mine planned the party for me, although I knew nothing about it save for the list of people I wanted to be invited. It was held at Deep Lake, a park not too far from home. All of the gifts were about an inside joke between me and whoever gave the gift. For instance, a few of my friends and I went up on the church roof once, so my friend Colleen made me a notebook with a roof shingle as a cover. The most memorable part of this birthday was when a friend's girlfriend's car was broken into.

7. 2008, my 20th birthday. At long last, first day of college. 19 had been an arduous and painful year, and being in Illinois all by myself, going to school, was a large step I had not foreseen. But it was a blessing. After a few days of orientation I had already made friends, friends that I hope to keep forever. After a day full of classes my suite had a small party for me and another girl whose birthday is the day before mine. We had cupcakes atop a Disney Princess tablecloth, and it was a beautiful beginning to my life at school.

8. 2009, my 21st birthday. This birthday happened in two parts. I had a party at home before I flew back to IL, and invited all my friends from the camp I worked at as well as old friends from school and church. This was also the first birthday I'd ever had a boyfriend--and he's now my husband! The kicker? He was supposed to bring all the people from camp, but he decided to go paintballing before the party, and made himself and all the camp staff four hours late.

Back at school, my friends threw me a real, bona fide, actual, legitimate surprise party! Under the pretense of going to a friend's apartment to watch a movie, my friends made a cake and rented Singing In the Rain (one of my all-time faves). Of course, the cake wasn't done in time, so then my bff had to stall me from going over there, and I started to figure it out. Still, it was one of the most cherished memories from college. Because it's a dry campus, I got to drink root beer from a plastic champagne cup, haha!

9. 2010, my 22nd birthday. My college has this trip they take at the beginning of every school year. They take a bunch of kids into Chicago for pizza at Gino's East, then a night cruise on a Wendella boat. It includes a tour of Chicago from the river, and at the end there are some fireworks. I had been one year before, but this year all of my closest friends came along. The trip happened to be on the same day as my birthday, so my buddy Pat got them to sing for me--twice. Once at Gino's, and once on the boat. Being surrounded by family is great, but being surrounded by people who love you and don't have to love you is sometimes even better. I also had a new camera that year, making the experience all the more thrilling.

10. 2012, my 24th birthday. Do you have any idea how long I've waited to be 24? Don't ask me why, I couldn't tell you. I just like the number. Last year, like a few other years, I started something brand new on my birthday. It was my first day of student teaching. Student teaching (or clinical practice, as they call it in the professional world) was a hurricane of anxiety and breathlessness, but my first day was extraordinary. During homeroom the new superintendent came to the classroom and sang to me, in a chipmunk voice. The principal caught it on camera. This was wonderful for two reasons. One, I was welcomed into the school. Two, it endeared me to the students I would be with for the next twelve weeks. It was one of the hardest parts of my college career, maybe of my life, but it was so worth it. Every time I felt out of place I just had to remember that first day.

So there you go. Ten different birthdays that hopefully conveyed ten feelings that I want to take with me, and experience next week. This is 6th birthday (as in actual day of my birth) that I've spent away from home. I haven't been home in over two years, but it's especially hard on my birthday. With that in mind, these memories keep me grounded, they help me feel the love of my family and friends that are far away. I know it's just a birthday. So what. So it's just my 25th birthday, and nothing exciting happens like getting to drive or vote or drink. But it's the last one I'm going to feel special about. It's my day, I'll do what I want! :)

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