CULTURE|LIFE
My Wonderful Birthday Tradition Is Being Questioned
What I do for my birthday is unusual but simple and now I have to decide just how important it is to me
When I read KiKi Walter’s story that featured a prompt about birthdays (Happy birthday Ki!), I knew that I wanted to write something but I was not sure what my focus would be.
Birthdays mean a lot to me — mine and those of my closest friends and family.
I have had some pretty bad birthdays over the years and wanted to help others not experience similar negative feelings.
My first and only birthday party was when I was 12 years old. My mom invited some of my friends over from school. They were nice enough but it was very awkward.
Half of them were white and I do not think they knew my mother is Black. I don’t think that they were racist but I could tell that our home, food, and neighborhood were different than their norm.
I had a crush on one of the boys who came and knew that after that party, he never saw me the same.
For one thing, he threw up a little bit after gagging on a potato chip. It wasn’t my fault but it was still something embarrassing that was associated with me.
