For the first two hours of my 21st birthday, I’ve cleaned my room that was a total war zone before tonight, watched some tv, and currently hanging out with my housemate, doing homework and simply relaxing. It’s not the typical 21st birthday you would expect being in the United States because the legal drinking age is 21. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of chances to hit up the bars and clubs but I’m not especially keen on getting wasted or doing anything big.
If I had one wish right now, I’d wish to celebrate with a meal with my family. Yes, I’m going to be all sentimental. Birthdays are special, today was the day my mother gave birth to me and I cannot thank her enough. I can’t imagine what it was like to deal with me the last 21 years. I hear I was pretty quiet as a child, then I became rebellious during middle school, started becoming a little better in high school but still didn’t care about school or much else, and now that I’m in the middle of college… I’m finally understanding how difficult it was to raise both my brother and I. The time and money they spent on us is irreplaceable and all I can do is to be the best daughter out there for the rest of my life. My parents are in Hong Kong, my brother is about six hours away from me in Philadelphia and I’m here in Boston: all living different lifestyles and in different stages of our lives.
For the rest of my 21st birthday, my plan is to sleep, possibly skip class, chill out, relax, and dinner with some friends in the evening. Although my house is still pretty furniture-less, it’ll be a good time and we will make do with what we have right now. More importantly, I’ll have friends… or so I think : )
I know the writing is pretty rough but it is 2 in the morning…. give me a break.
Joanne Lam 