Birthdays are curious things, aren't they?
If you are lucky, you are congratulated for having lived one year more. You recieve gifts, a pastry, and well wishes from many people. You will have the ritual candle lighting and singing of Happy Birthday. People who have never bothered to talk to you will stop you in the hall and say "Happy Birthday", but with a smile so it doesn't seem obligatory.
If you are not lucky, people will not remember your birthday. Some may remember and not care. You may not have anyone to not care. You are either disappointed or rightfully pessimistic.
I have usually found myself to be of neutral luck with birthdays. Not because my birthdays have been overwhelmingly plain, but because I have had both wonderful and truly awful birthday experiences.
On my 9th birthday, I spent the entire day volunteering at JC Penney with my mother. I had only had a child-sized pouch of fruit snacks that day because all the other volunteers ate the pizza before we got there.
A week after my 15th birthday, I had a movie night with my friends and my first birthday party.
For my sixteenth birthday, I bought myself a pair of skates, received a tray of cookies, gave cupcakes to my friends, and spent a quiet night at home. I did not have a cake. I did not have a party. This birthday, while not as exciting as the last, was my favorite. Too many times to count, I have been disappointed by people. My family and sometimes my friends. But I came into this birthday with zero expectations. And that's probably what made it so much better.
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