January, 2007, goes down in history as my best birthday ever. No, it's not a "special" birthday year. No new decades or half decades to celebrate. But the way my friends and family from all over went the extra mile...that's what really made me feel special, and thoroughly thankful for having such wonderful people in my life.
Celebrations lasted the whole month:
- My parents took me out for dinner at my favorite Sushi restaurant, Sam's in San Mateo
- Ted surprised me with drinks on top of the Marriott and dinner at Ame in SF. How did he know that I've been wanting to go to Ame for months?!
- My sister surprised me with the sweetest bouquet ever: a dozen chocolate covered strawberries. Yummmmm!
- My girlfriend planned a huge bash, including 20 of my best friends, a private room/nook at Umami, an AWESOME up-and-coming restaurant, and we danced the night away afterwards
- Ted (the man is a saint!) also planned a weekend ski trip with 15 of our closest friends. It means so much to me that people would be willing to take a whole weekend out of their lives to celebrate mine. What an honor!
You know, in the past, I would have felt like I shouldn't ask for so much for my birthday. But, you know what, allowing people to make a big deal out of your birthday doesn't feel as selfish as I thought it would. Instead, I felt like it made us closer friends. I guess, sometimes, accepting expressions of caring is just as important as giving them.
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