So, I normally hate celebrating my birthday. Well, that's not quite true. I used to love celebrating my birthday; I would look forward to it as soon as Christmas was over. After Phillip came into our family, though, I came to fear my birthday. It seemed like every November 10th something would go horribly wrong - I couldn't even have a birthday party without a disaster happening. Eventually, I got to the point where I refused to let anyone acknowledge my birthday, and I would have nightmares about all the things I thought would go wrong.
Over the past three years, I have been trying to work past those fears by trying to celebrate my birthday. It's been ... rough. Last night, though, major progress was made. Several of my friends and I went to see Wreck-It Ralph, which is about the geekiest movie I have seen in a long time. We hooted, hollered, and laughed throughout the entire movie, and not once did I feel afraid. It was like being a kid again: I was excited, happy, and animated. After, three of my friends made me a birthday dinner (cake included). I ... have never been so surprised in all my life. (I'd never tell Nathanael, Kimmie, and Katie, but their offer to make me dinner made me cry.) Then, we played Cranium and just had a really marvelous night.
By the time I got home, I was too tired to have nightmares. And, really, it was one of the best nights I have had in a very long time. I am so blessed to have the friends I do, and I think (just maybe) birthdays can only go up from here. This year is going to be awesome.
Thank you Lian, Laura, Katie, Kimmie, Nathanael, Bethany, Katie, Caitlan, Nicole, Lauren, Jessica, Brandee, and all my other wonderful grad school friends. You have made one of the hardest times in my life an amazing adventure. To my other friends and my wonderful family, thank you for loving me and sticking with me. You mean the world to me.
