So how was my 18th Birthday? I have to admit, after a string of birthdays in which I turned yet another year older, but never really felt any different, this Birthday broke the norm. I did feel different. The weight of my newly-had responsibilities, the pressure that would now be put on me to be an adult - was very present in my mind on October 13th. At the same time, I felt as if I had woken up older, somehow, more mature - cheesy, I know, but in a country where people do often consider you a child until after you hit the 18th year mark, I think it's only natural to feel this way.
And I felt thankful. I was thankful to have ever gotten the chance to turn 18, to still be alive to celebrate. I think back to that day 6 months ago, back to my diagnosis with Diabetes, and realize how closely I came to never even getting to celebrate another year of life. How easily it all could have been cut short, and the weight of that event in my life, will likely be something I'll be aware of for all of my hopefully many future birthdays to come.
I didn't know what to do on my Birthday. So I woke up, went to breakfast, and followed the same routine I did every Thursday. I went to class. In 3-D Design we were building towers out of a single board of foam core. Whoever built the tallest tower, without any adhesive, got a 100%. I had low expectations for my success. I lack the mathematical skills of a genius to figure out the best possible proportions for base to height. My stand-in X-Acto knife was an impressive looking pocket knife given to me by my grandfather. My measurements were sadly un-uniform. The project frustrated me to no end. But I thought, I experimented, and finally I came up with a simple plan: I made a base, and cut tiny little joints out of the middle of thin pieces of foam core. I fit these joints onto the piece below it, and was just going to keep stacking thin little pieces of foamboard vertical-ways up until the tower would support no more. Glamorous? No. Effective? Highly. Several students were able to build insanely tall towers, but after what seemed like an eternity of battling it out and trying to figure out how to get my tower to support just one more piece of foam board, I had constructed a leaning-tower-of-pisa-like stick that stretched all the way up past the art building ceiling. I had won the tallest tower at over 150 inches and completely surprised myself!
Lunch was next. Several people wished me Happy Birthday, which made me feel special. I logged on to Facebook only to find a major surprise: my father, who is in the billboard business, had just finished constructing the first tri-faced LED Billboard in Florida and had put "Happy Birthday Lacy" on the very front of it! He had posted a picture of it for everyone to see. My mother and him had gotten together and come up with the idea to do it for me. I could not even fathom that someone would do something so incredible for my Birthday. Now, in addition to everyone who was friends with me on Facebook knowing it was my Birthday, basically all of Orlando knew as well! Ha! How amazing was that?
As a Birthday present from Mom, Dad and my family, I was also mailed a Birthday Box filled with low-carb mini chocolate cake, party supplies and a Nook. I had sorely missed not being able to bring my books with me to College, and Wesleyan's Library was more of an academic library... meaning there was little of what I like to call "recreational reading", or easy books just to rest my mind and give it a break from my studies. I was thrilled to get a Nook - I could finally have books again!
I went to sculpture class after lunch and worked on my sculpture. We were sanding our nearly-finished works today. I decided to leave early because I wanted to head over to Forsyth before it got too late. I looked out the window only to find that it had started absolutely pouring. Restless, I was determined not to sit and work on stone birds for another hour. I sat and waited by the door for 15 minutes but after noticing the rain showed no sign whatsoever of slowing, I gulped, tucked my bag within the safety of my arms, and opened the door.
I ran. The rain was biting cold, the wind blowing. Water showered my face, soaked my hair and drenched my jeans and tank top. At first I was truly annoyed. I wanted to look at least somewhat decent on my birthday, not wet like a drowned rat. I ran across the parking lot like mad and slowed to hop onto the grass. I sped up and one of my slippery flip flops went flying. A smile broke out on my face as I bent to retrieve it. And then the other one flew off. I could hold off my giddiness no longer. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. I remembered all of the times in my past when I had run out in the rain with friends, or by myself, and all the fun that I had had. I lifted my face to the sky, silently thanking it for the rain. I ran up the hill, muddying my jeans, but I didn't care. I laughed the whole way back to the dorms. And it had made my Birthday perfect.
I got inside, set my wet jeans aside, and got into some warm, dry clothes. I dried my hair and my face, packed a small bag, and then I drove over to Forysth. Marleigh's Fall Chorus Recital for Mary Persons High was today, and I'd said I'd come see it. Jake and I went together, and it was nice to get a chance to sit and listen to music. After a stressful week it was good to be able to relax. Afterwards we went to Jonah's, one of our biggest Forsyth traditions. Jonah's is a fantastic pizza place - we're biased, but we consider it the best - right in the heart of downtown Forsyth. Jake, who up until last week had worked there, let the people in the back know we were here to celebrate my Birthday. We sat down and ordered pizza rolls and pizza. After a fantastic, completely Way too High-Carb dinner, one of the waiters Jake knew let me pick which slice of cake I wanted. I knew my blood sugar wasn't going to be that happy, but you only turn 18 once. And you bet that I was going to have some cake. Jake didn't really care for sweets so I asked Marleigh to help me decide and share with me. There were so many delicious looking options - chocolate fudge cake, poundcake, carrot - but having never tried a Banana Creme Pie Cheesecake before, that's the one I selected. Then everyone came out and sang to me! Laurie and her friend Donna burst in while they were singing and it felt like a complete party. I was embarrassed and delighted all at the same time with all of the attention. I resolved to have only one bite of my cake but after tasting it I couldn't help myself. It was completely delicious and I tried two more bites. Marleigh and I ate most of it and Jake ate the rest. After some pictures we drove home, dancing in the car to music, and I spent the night in my usually comfy spot on the Living Room couch.
Had it been the most eventful Birthday? No. Did I have a big get together or party? Certainly not. Had I received a lot of gifts? No. I missed my friends, my family, the big, grand parties with the presents and the friends and everyone I had known from High School and before. But I had gotten to spend my Birthday with people I adored, in a place that I loved, and welcome a new and exciting chapter into my life. My 18th Birthday was different, and it was going to take time to accept all of the changes that College had brought. But my life is changing, growing, becoming something new and wonderful. It's been the best 18 years of my life, but I know that the years to come will be equally the best, not for the same reasons, but in their own different way.
So... Happy Birthday to me. And here's hoping I don't get arrested any time soon.
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