Low on the Go!

twenty one.

I turned 21 yesterday. To me, 21 isn't that big of a deal. The older I get, the more I realize how young I am. The majority of my close friends are approaching their mid-twenties, so the fact that I am merely 21, doesn't require that much celebration. It's simply a marker of how much I do not yet know.

A birthday with little fanfare. Yet, it may have been greater than, or at least on par with my last four birthdays. I thought I would have been bitter, because I'm still in Edmonton, when I never anticipated I'd be here beyond August. But, when you're away from friends, you feel their love even more, and smaller things become so much more meaningful.

A parcel in the mail (Jenbo) and a birthday card arriving on the same day the sender was leaving the country (Aban) made me smile ten times more. Phone calls bringing the familiar cacophony of voices to my ears were also so lovely (Janette, Brad, Wynja, Jess Farq). Friends in Ontario who stayed up till midnight MST to say "hello and happy birthday" are crazy, but maybe that's why I love them (Frank). Dinner with a good friend (Dave) from Toronto, which included sweet potato fries, mac and cheese, apple crumble and a sea breeze that made my cheeks burn(with a waiter that reminded us of pee-wee herman) at my favourite restaurant made it all the more fun.

When I got home, people had dropped off birthday cards for me (Mel, Terence, Mich, Stephen&ShuYee). Some were really unexpected.

I don't know, I felt really loved. Maybe it's because when you're so far away and people STILL take the effort to love you, it feels nice.

Sending a parcel in the midst of moving is no small task. Remembering a birthday when one is embarking on a year in North Africa is also worthy of praise. Taking time to make phone calls during FROSH week when you're a campus staff, or a student leader and all you've been doing for the past week is calling and meeting people and calling some more, requires sacrifice. Calling for the second time when the person shafted you the first time and it's past 1am in Guelph, means that you MUST want to talk to the person. Staying awake until 2am EST...well that's just crazy. Dinner when long hours have been worked and the drive into town takes at least 30-45 minutes, and you have to pick the person up and drop them off AND be coherent for dinner also requires sacrifice.

I have a lot of friends who love me. Which is pretty insane, because I am not a naturally lovable person.

Tonight, there's a chocolate mousse cake awaiting me (mom and dad).

It's not where I would have chosen to be, but for today (JUST FOR TODAY), it's not all that bad.