I was talking to my sister, Emily, on her birthday the other day. I brought up that I didn't remember anything about my 30th birthday (it was her 30th birthday) and it got me thinking. I generally don't remember my birthdays. I've never been the kind of person to celebrate birthdays (I told my family that this year, the only thing I wanted for my birthday, is nothing), so birthdays never stick out for me. I've spent the last few days trying to remember birthdays past, and this is what I remember.
34 - I remember this birthday only because I spent it traveling from Edinburgh to Towson, by trains, planes, and automobiles. I forgot it was my birthday, until I landed in JFK that night and the immigration guy wished me a happy birthday. I spent the last minutes of my 34th wandering around Reagan National Airport, trying to find a place where I could sleep on the floor.
33 - I remember 33 because it was the first day in what was the worst year of my life. The day itself was not particularly memorable. Lauren and I went to Stacks, and I was again disappointed by what I got there (I know people love that place, but it's never done much for me). We also saw 'Up'.
28 - I decided to fast on my 28th birthday - no food for 24 hours. Some people are gluttonous on their birthdays; I decided to be the opposite. Of course, this lack of food gave me a migraine and I ended up feeling really crappy.
25 - The third of what I like to think of my international birthday trilogy. I was in Vancouver. The highlight of the day was dinner. I was in a class and a number of us went to dinner that night. There was a sexist/racist guy in our class, who acted like he wasn't either of those things. After a few stories from him that were filled with racist and sexist comments, we all attacked him for his comments - he dropped out of the class.
24 - I woke up in Barcelona on that day, and went to the beach very early. I climbed up a lifeguard tower and looked over the quiet Mediterranean. I called my parents that evening from a pay phone at the base of Las Ramblas, and talked to my mother (my dad wasn't home from work yet).
23 - I spent the day getting from Tikal to Antigua, Guatemala. I called home on a rainy night in Antigua and made my first of three international birthday calls to Towson.
18 - I actually don't remember my 18th birthday, just that it was the day before my high school graduation and so it was completely overshadowed.
13 - We lived in De Kalb when I turned 13, but happened to be in Towson on my 13th birthday, checking out the city we would be moving to. My family ate ice cream in the Kenilworth Mall. To this day, every time I go into the Kenilworth Mall, I remember that - I'm glad the ice cream store is still there.
You get an idea of how excited I am about birthdays
(I remember nothing of my 7th, not even that I had a party)
5 - I turned 5, five days after Emily was born. I remember feeling kind of jealous. I was going to have a special Superman cake (a blue cake with the Superman logo on it) that my mom and aunt had worked on. I still got the cake, but my mom was in the hospital still. There is this picture of me, wearing a Superman t-shirt, next to my cake. It's my favorite birthday picture.
3 - I don't remember my third birthday, but I remember it through pictures. It was one of the few birthday parties I've had. My mom made a cake that looked like a 3-car train, with cookies for wheels. There are these pictures of me with the cake, where I look like I don't quite know what's going on exactly.
Emily mentioned on her birthday that, every important day in her life these days, reminds her of our mother. I think that's why I just want my next birthday to pass, uneventfully. On my last birthday, I was so busy in transit that it never really struck me that it was my first birthday without my mother. I know that won't happen this year. I plan on calling Towson, as I've always done, but I probably will not be calling the house on Bosley Avenue this year, but my dad's office. And I won't hear that familiar Ghanaian accent wishing me a happy birthday, reminding me of birthdays past, and that cake that looked like a train.
