In the last few years I got used to not really making a deal out of my birthday, not really doing the whole present thing (which was also kind of a relief because I’m so bad at thinking of presents for other people), and mostly figured that as you grow up you just don’t do that stuff anymore.
But you know what? It’s still really nice being taken out to dinner and having the whole cake and song thing, as awkward as it may be at the time.
Tonight I celebrated my birthday with a group of good friends, most of whom I hadn’t even met a year ago. And what really made me happy was that, despite the short time we’ve known each other, they put in the effort and managed to come up with presents that they thought I would like. Not just the perfunctory gift that you would normally get just to show up with something (which would have been totally understandable), but something specifically me.
To think that we started out with just dinner for 2 on occasional Fridays, to a solid group of people that are bound together by nothing more circumstantial than mutual friendships and the enjoyment of one another’s company.
I guess turning 28 wasn’t so bad after all. =)
