My Birthday Surprise
I am the type of person who thinks that Birthdays are a big deal, even though I HATE getting older. I love celebrating my birthday. It’s an excuse to do whatever I want to do for the day with the people I love. This year for 24, one of my best friends Caroline was coming to town, and we had a full weekend planned of everything I’ve wanted to do in Austin since we’ve moved here.
Thursday Sam and I took her to a Texas Dancehall. There is nothing more classic Texas than a dance hall. It’s the most country thing I’ve done since being here. We put on our boots and daisy dukes and watched/dance/drank the night away. This time I would turn 24 at midnight. We are at Mavericks, my mom calls at 11:09 central time (it’s a thing we do), I answer the call. I come back inside, and Sam has to go to the bathroom. The next thing I know, my best friend Bre is in Austin, Texas too. I cried.
I think it’s so important to show your friends how much you care about them, to go out of your way to build and maintain those relationships with your friends. Bre, Caroline, and Sam planning this surprise shows me how much they care for me.
Anyway, on Friday I woke up to have all my best friends under the same roof. People who I know don’t judge me. We woke up, got breakfast tacos, went thrifting, and walked about Austin. We went to the Austin Public Library, walked around Lady Bird Lake, and went to an all pink, super girly, Mexican restaurant: Taquero Mucho. It was literally the perfect day!
By the time we got back to the apartment, we had 30 minutes to change and go to dinner. I decided to keep the tradition alive and go to Yard House. We met some friends there, I barely ate dinner, but I drank … enough. The plan was to go out after dinner.
I looked around and realized I can go out any time. We go out every weekend here, but the one thing I never get here is a Movie Night. Sam can’t stay up to watch the movie, so I never get one. I had my two best friends with me, and I wanted a good movie night. So on my 24th birthday, we stayed in and watched Curella De Vil. That was more special to me.
I think over the course of the day, I realized that my friends only want to spend time with me. They don’t care what we do. If we stayed in all day and watched Hannah Montana, they would have been happy. The best birthday surprise was having people in Austin who loved me. So often I feel invisible here. Like I know so many people, but they don’t really know me. I don’t have great memories with them yet or funny stories. Bre, Caroline, and Sam have seen me at my worst. Crying on the bathroom floor from an anxiety attack and they still want to spend time with me. They laugh at the same things I do. They know exactly what I am thinking just by the look on my face. We know how to read each other. So more than anything I have missed being seen. My birthday weekend surprise gave me the best gift of all, I was seen and loved. That's all I could ever ask for.