"Life is like surfing a good wave. We have those moments where you feel as though you are on the top of the world and those where your life comes crashing down all around you."
Ainsley Matthews, ex-pro surfer, has been though a lot in the past. From...
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C H A P T E R S I X birthday wishes
grubbing: to fall off of the board while surfing.
My mother woke me up at six in the morning by casually yelling "Happy birthday Ainsley." I was startled to say the least. I actually screamed and grabbed the pillow, ready to throw it at whoever the intruder was.
"Mom what the heck are you doing." I say quietly wiping my eyes as I look up to find her standing there with a huge smile on her face and a small birthday cake in her hands.
"Darling, it's your nineteenth birthday, exactly-." She pauses and looks down at her watch. "Two minutes and thirty-four seconds ago you were born and you made my life a whole lot better sweetie!" She wraps her arms around me and places a soft kiss against my cheek.
I look down at the small cake admiring the work that must have been put into it. The cake, which is covered in white fondant, had decorative flowers and Happy Birthday Ainsley, written in teal gel frosting.
"Mom, it's beautiful, thank you." I say giving her another small hug. "Did you actually make this cake?"
"Oh goodness know. You'd know if I had been baking, the house would have been burned down by now."
Laughter fills the air as I adjust the blankets which have pooled around my waist.
"Make a wish." she says holding the cake closer towards me as she anxiously waits for me to blow out the candles.
I just wish that Crystal could be here right now. I repeat in my head before attempting to blow out all of the nineteen candles, one added for good luck. And of course, all but one blow out.
"Well I would love to stay and interrogate you about who your boyfriend is, but I have work to get to." She places a kiss on my cheek once again before placing the cake down on my nightstand on her way out.
Of course. Work always comes first. "Love you mom and thank you again." I shout towards her retreating figure as she closes my bedroom door and shuts off the light.
Ever since my father left my mother has been locked into one mindset, and that is work. She works all throughout the day and at night. Even on her days off she still manages to think about work. My eleventh birthday, the year after my father left, my mother never left her room. Instead I had to go and make myself a cake and sing happy birthday all alone. The same thing happened for my twelfth, and my thirteenth. She always says that she has moved on from my father, but in reality, she never has, and possibly never will.
Since I was awoken at six in the morning, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my blue pillow. My dreams were filled with memories of when I was a child, when my family was still together, and when Crystal was still alive.
