It's so easy to forget that we're surrounded by amazing people, but hopefully everyone is as lucky as I to have people remind them on their birthday that they are not forgotten. The thing about birthdays as we get older is that gifts don't matter anymore like they did when we were kids. Now what I appreciate the most is having friends and loved ones take a moment out of their day just to wish me well. It can be as simple as a "happy birthday" text message or Facebook post, or a quick voicemail message singing me the happy birthday song. I was so touched with the amount of people who took the time out of their days to do just this.

I was feeling lazy in the morning, having failed to have a decent night's sleep the night before. I couldn't get myself motivated to start my day. But after talking to my mom and best friend on the phone, I finally jumped in the shower and woke myself up. I went down to my folks' house to spend the afternoon with them. We ordered lunch (dad brought it home), and then my mom and I went to the movies to see "Mamma Mia" (so wonderfully cheesy). It was a really nice way to bond with my parents, especially my mom. There is a short scene in the movie (this won't spoil anything if you haven't seen the film) where Meryl Streep sits with the actress playing her daughter and paints her toenails blue. My mom leaned over during the movie and said she wanted to go buy some blue polish and do that for me. It was a cute moment there in the theater. Throughtout the afternoon, she kept reminiscing about the day I was born, retelling me the story of my birth. Even after 33 years, I still enjoy hearing that story. She sent me home with my own personal ice cream cake (my favorite) to continue my plans.

The only thing was, I didn't have any other set plans.

I knew I wanted to spend the evening with my boyfriend, JR. However, we never actually planned anything. I assumed that we would go out to dinner and that would be it. But, I was feeling more and more negative about things as the day went on. This was the first birthday between us since we'd started dating, so no precedent had yet been set. Plus, he'd told me about how his family celebrated birthdays (pretty much non-existent once the next kid came along), so I wasn't sure what to expect. He didn't call in the morning to wish me a happy birthday. No text message either. I suddenly thought he forgot. He'd remembered it the days before, mentioning it periodically, but no word on the day of. I made tentative plans with another friend, hoping she and her husband would join JR and I to dinner, something she wasn't expecting. But like a true friend, she jumped on board and was willing to go along with any plans I made.

In the late afternoon/early evening, he did call from his work site like I'd asked so that I would know approximately how long I'd have until he arrived in town. (He works in different locations every day.) It was a quick phone call with no mention of my birthday. I was ready to write him off. (Fortunately I'd talked to my friend with the tentative plans and she reminded me that he'd been just worked a long day in the hot sun and he was probably standing with his work partners. She told me to cut him some slack since he wasn't exactly in the position to be cheesy with me.) I dropped any expectations I might have still had. He said it would take an hour to return.

Fifty minutes later, my doorbell rang. I'd just come back inside after painting a couple chairs of my patio furniture (something he started for me last weekend). I hadn't fixed myself up at this point, figuring I'd have the time it took him to go from his house to mine. I thought maybe it was a neighborhood kid at my door, so I slowly made my way to open it. Instead of some bratty kid, there stood my boyfriend, all dressed up, holding a bouquet of roses and a box wrapped in gold paper. He smiled and said, "Happy birthday, baby." I instantly took back any disappointed thought I'd previously had about him.

I won't share about what took place after his arrival; it's for me to hold on to. But we did get to have a moment, sitting on my couch, eating part of my ice cream cake together. It was deliciously sweet, and so was he.

I realize that for my birthday, I just wanted to feel special. All of my friends did a wonderful job of making me feel like a special part of their lives. My family also showed me how much I mean to them. And this year I got to have a man who is oh-so-special to me show me that I mean the world to him. What more could a birthday girl want?

Labels: birthday