A fun birthday was the last thing I had expected on my 23rd birthday. In fact it had such a boring start. It was like any other warm morning when I stepped out of our office building from another night spent working a rather odd job; which I had conveniently applied for last month just so I would be able to buy my kids a can of formula milk and still have extra to pay for my husband’s hair cut. Go figure. Well anyway, no one even bothered to greet me a Happy Birthday on my cellphone, no one called, no one at all. I had no extra time to go home for breakfast so I went straight ahead to our review for the Nursing Board Exams which was just right around the corner from where I worked. I was already past an hour late. A couple of my classmates had greeted me when I breezed my way inside the crowded lecture hall looking for my good friend, Hazel, who by the way, didn’t even bother to greet me as well. But I managed a fake, dry smile when she greeted me. I was tired and upset but for the most part, I just really, really, longed for a nice, soft bed. Instead I had to drag myself to review that morning with swigs of caffeine from my recycled Gatorade bottle, determined to keep awake for another couple of hours. Finally I decided not to finish the rest of the review. I thought I’d never reach home because I was just so exhausted. I took a much deserved nap and when I awoke, my husband had already prepared a little something-something for a family get-together dinner.

My parents left in haste since they had another party to attend to. It seemed every one had a party to go to except for mine. It was quite cumbersome to think about how annoying it made me feel. Why should I be bothered? I wasn’t turning 7 anyway. Grown ups were supposed to feel neutral about birthdays and other occasions that had a childish ring to it. But why was I bothered? Why did I feel a lump in my throat and a knot in the pit of my stomach? Then my two best gal pals arrived with a scrumptuous chocolate cake. The confection proved to be quite a delectably moist treat and it took tons off my back. That was when we decided that it was going to be a girls’ night out from that point on. I bade my husband and two kids a pleasant and good night while mama went out to party!