Late Night Thoughts

Birthdays

A birthday that every little girl of a religious Mexican background looks forward to. A day worth remembering. The day in which they make a great transfer from childhood to the life of an adult. The day of her quinceañera.

  This day wasn't one I cared much about. I've been agnostic since I was ten and I was never really brought up with that culture. As a mixed kid without much influence from their father, I didn't even understand what the purpose of such an event. My friends never seemed to remember my birthday anyways.

  Being born just a few days after Christmas means that's all people care about. They only care about Christmas feasts and presents. They're never home around then either since Christmas is supposed to be for family and all that goodness even though it's a day built around "I wonder what I'm getting". If anyone does remember, or pretends to, it's because I mentioned it.

  My fifteenth birthday was nothing like the tradition of my dad's culture. My birthday was simply cleaning up after Christmas and and "Oh hey you're fifteen!". I got calls from family members giving birthday wishes and that was about it. I checked my phone from texts from friends and there were two. One from an internet friend and one from a friend I've had since middle school. My best friends didn't text that night however. The next day, one admitted he forgot and apologized. The other pretended it never happened.

  Now as I'm getting closer to my sixteenth birthday, I can't help but to fear for the same problem. I'm supposed to be planning this grand "sweet sixteen" party, which will obviously have to be pushed back a couple of weeks so people can actually go, but if no one but family and two friends can remember, is it even worth planning?