.two.twenty-one.

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so many aspects of daily life change throughout the years. one thing people often forget that changes are birthdays. constantly are people thinking of new ideas to celebrate someone's birthday. when you're in your younger years you may have a party in your class at school, you may hire a clown and rent a hall to throw a party, you may invite relatives over the house, or you may just have a quiet night with your family or friends. then, the best kind of all, the surprise party. i've gone to many and also planned some for friends and family, but never was i given one...until recently.

on the eighteenth of february, one of my closest friends, vivian, whom i became friends with in sixth grade and am now living out my college life with, told me she wanted to take me out for dinner for my birthday. my birthday wasn't until tuesday, but since we figured it would be more fun to go out on the weekend, i said sure. i didn't want to stay out too late because i had a ton of work to do and two tests to study for for monday, so we decided to go to the mall for a little while and have dinner. so, i get dressed and walk up to main campus to meet vivian in her room. when i knocked on the door, viv said she was laying down and to just use the code to open the door. not thinking anything of it, i quickly typed the code in and when i opened the door...SURPRISE!!! i immediately shut my eyes and looked down in embarassment. i was not expecting that in the least...i guess that's why it's called a surprise party after all. i glanced around the room and noticed many of my closest friends standing there smiling and laughing at my reaction...kathy, viv, pristine, ashley, melissa, aj, becky, tess, emily...then what really surprised me was who i saw standing in the left side of the pack...hannah, christine, and liz. after i saw them i turned to the right again and then it hit me-HANNAH, CHRISTINE, AND LIZ?!?!?! WHAT?!?! i rushed over to give them all a huge hug. three of my best friends from home had come to my surprise party. i had to leave the room for a couple of minutes because i was just so shocked. liz goes to the university of deleware. she drove all the way in the opposite direction to the university of maryland to pick up hannah and christine and then drove all the way here just so they could surprise me.

we had gone to fellini's for dinner, all thirteen of us, and after waiting for an hour even though we had seven o'clock reservations, we were finally seated. the food was geat and everyone seemed to have a great time. afterward most of us went back to viv's room to hang out.

birthdays aren't just about presents. they're not even about the cake. they're not about blowing out candles and making a wish. all of that is extremely fun, but birthdays are about something else. they're about spending quality time with the people who now you best. with the people who have grown with you, who have experienced much of the same things as you. those who you care about and care about you. i feel like a long time ago this is what birthdays were about, but many people forgot that along the way. there's so much to do these days to celebrate, too, like i said. it's great to be able to take at least one ordinary day out of the year just to have a blast with those you love. i'm sure my twentieth birthday won't be forgotten...i had a blast...i love my friends.

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Photos

friends are family
viv, hannah, christine, ashley, me, kathy, and liz