What I Don 't Understand About Birthdays

Everything seemed to happen so quickly, I had to grow up so fast and do things I never even imagined doing.

In American culture, birthdays are an important event and celebrated in many ways. Birthdays are more than just singing “Happy Birthday”. Celebrating one's birthday whether it be a first birthday, a thirteenth birthday, a sixteenth birthday, a twenty first birthday or an fiftieth birthday are all often substantial and considered to be an accomplishment. Birthdays may just be any other day in any other culture but, the American culture does more to celebrate one's day of birth and often celebrates them by going over the top.

When I woke up on April 3rd, 2011, I didn’t expect that later in the day, my whole life would be changed forever. I was aware, however that something was wrong.

It feels just like yesterday I was getting on a school bus for the first time to head off to kindergarten. The sun was warm to the senses as mildew covered the grass. Excitement is the only feeling I can recall as I felt on top of the world leaving my house to learn and be with friends. Now I am twenty-three and wondering where all the time has gone. My back aches from not stretching. My knees crack walking up and down the stairs. Where has the time gone, and why don’t I feel like a kid anymore?

I’m ten years old, and I’ve already been forced to grow up. I don’t remember my childhood.

My 2nd birthday. There are silly blues clues decorations everywhere. There are polka dot balloons, sweet yummy cake, and big shiny presents. There is a camera pointed at my face. The faint sound of muffled talking goes through my head. I hear the sweet words of “Happy Birthday” several times. As I open my gifts, I hear the rustling of the slick wrapping paper. My nose picks up the scent of the smoke from the birthday candles.

My principal had just announced to a lab filled with high school students that it was my birthday. After leading them in a boisterous rendition of the Happy Birthday song, one of my students called me over. I knew the inevitable question was right around the corner, but I didn’t realize how quickly it would come. “How old are you, Mrs. Smith?” the teenage girl asked. I really hadn’t had time to think about how I would answer that question so I did what any good teacher would do. I told her the truth. The expression on her face was priceless.

It’s the end of the beginning but also the beginning of the middle. No longer a child, but not exactly an adult - Thirteen is somewhere in the middle. Life is a bit more chaotic; more dramatic, more stressful, and more pressuring.

The year was 2009. It was a nice clear warm August day. The whistle blew and I lined up by the doors to the cafeteria. Now that I was in fifth grade I felt so much older than the fourth graders standing beside me. I was small and unaware of the big year I was about to experience.

“Marly Jane, get your jacket on and be quick about it,” Mama had hollered from inside the kitchen through the screen door. If I am going to be completely honest with you, I did not want to go. I wanted to stay home and play outside. Ev Daddy died when I was three. He got ran over by a car walking to work one day. er since Daddy died, all Mama did was mope around inside. All the sadness was getting to my head so I normally went outside to play.

In ten years years my life will be very different. It will be the year of 2027. I will be 21 years old. Everything is crazy and there are floating buildings. There is also ice cream that never melts even when it is left out in the sun for a long time.

“...I wish I was one hundred and two. I wish I was anything but eleven, because I want today to be far away already, far away like a runaway balloon.” (Cisneros). Growing up can be intimidating, with responsibilities growing each year and soon enough maturity hits you like a bus. The world is full of people who each have had their own memories of growing up, whether those be good or bad ones. In Rachel’s case, her glowing eleventh birthday is not as glamorous as she expected. Rachel realizes that birthdays aren't always perfect and blames a bad experience for hers being ruined.

When the school bell rang, my mom drove me home. We celebrated again at home with just my family. Everybody sang Happy Birthday Rachel and even though my dad was rough I guess there was a plus. I got to skip school, first time in an ambulance, and more. Now, I am feeling down my birthday went the opposite of what I wished. In my head, all I can think is eleven, eleven, eleven. When we are all down celebrating my mom tells me goodnight and I fall fast asleep hoping the day will start over. I will know what to say and

The year was 2008. I had recently awoken at an ungodly hour (as was customary of me during holidays) in order to inform my obviously ignorant parents, that it was in fact my 10th birthday. They played it off very well that they were not aware of this fact, and I became upset that they had forgotten. This was to be a majestic day, the day my age finally became double digits. This day had been awaited much, much longer than any of my other birthdays. My mind began to flood with thoughts of my parents simply skipping over my special day, and treating it as anything other than the most important day in all of human history. It was my 10th birthday, and it seemed as though not a person in the world thought anymore of this day than August 21st, 1998. Little did I know that the birthday of 2008 was going to be one that I would remember for the rest of my life.

Birthdays have always been a thing of great importance to me. Whether it's me or any of my close friends and or family, I always have thought that birthdays and the aspect of remembering someone elses are the most important thing someone can do for a person. No matter the age whether 6, 10, or 85, doing it big and celebrating for someone is a particular way of showing someone how much they mean to you whether it is shown by a simple card or with a big party. In addition to my birthday being very important to me, I go out of my way to make sure that my friends and family feel equally special when there time comes. Nevertheless, my birthdays in particular have always been amazing thanks to the effort and love shown by everyone; but this one in particular, the celebration in which I turned sixteen will always be one to remember.