25 Years and Counting

one of the highlights of my 2008 was my 25th birthday. just like a child, it was something i look forward to by having my usual countdown. some of the people i know dreaded the day they would turn 25. according to them, they don't want to experience the so-called "quarter life crisis." as for me, i already experienced an early quarter life crisis. i still have that crisis up to this day. i already know what to do about it. i just don't have the courage to do it yet. i'm still prepping myself so that when the day comes i have to announce to the people who matters to me about my decision, i would be strong enough to stand by whatever decision i made. just like in one of my favorite Switchfoot songs, This Is Your Life:

yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
yesterday is a promise that you've broken
don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes
this is your life and today is all you've got now
yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
don't close your eyes don't close your eyes

this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, are you who you want to be
this is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
when the world was younger and you had everything to lose

on to how i celebrated my birthday...

it was a cold morning when i woke up. i went to church together with my Mom and Kuya. i thanked God for giving me another year in my life. then we went home and had breakfast. i dressed up for work and actually looked forward to it. i usually do not work on my birthday. i go out to relax and enjoy my day. but that day was different. i went to work.

as soon as i arrived in school, my Nursery students greeted me. every time they passed by me, they greeted me "Happy Birthday." we had our usual morning routine like the circle time, presentation of lesson and workbook activity. during recess time, the first ones who went out to wash their hands were the girls. when they came back, they were all holding yellow daisies and lined up in front of me to give me the flowers. the next were the boys. when they came back, they all have single red roses which they gave to me. it was really sweet. for the second time in my life, i appreciated flowers. the first one was back in college from a guy i barely knew. i played a joke on him and he thought i was serious. so he gave me flowers as an apology the next time we met. i couldn't stop laughing after that. in my entire existence, i usually throw the flowers given to me or give them to strangers. i hate flowers. i know it's mean. but i really hate them. anyway, i kept the flowers my students gave me and i sincerely like them.

in my afternoon class, my students gave me a cake. they sang "Happy Birthday." i couldn't remember the last time people sang Happy Birthday to me. then we ate the cake. it was indeed a sweet birthday at work.


it was a simple and sweet birthday i would never forget.