Friday, May 7, 2010

Happiness is homemade

I'm always a bit...forgetful when it comes to people's birthdays. I don't mean to forget, and it isn't that I'm too busy to remember, there just seems to be some flaw in me that forgets when people were born. This happened to me a couple days ago.

My friend Cait is one of my dear friends. We've gotten really close these past few years, and she's been my coach & supporter through all this messy college stuff. I don't see her often, she's very busy and we don't have a schedule in school that coincides. Early this week we'd been talking, though, and she mentioned her birthday. I filed it away but I didn't realize how close it was, and when the day actually came I had no clue. She sent me a text after school asking me what day it was and I flinched. I forgot! I forgot after she told me two days ago her birthday was so soon. That was like a whole new record for me in forgetting a birthday, let me tell you. So I apologized and she told me something even more heartbreaking...everyone else had forgotten her birthday too. My guilt meter was smoking at this point, and I knew I had to do some serious recon to make her birthday feel more special.

Everyone loves a surprise on their birthday. Whether it's a homemade sign on their locker, a quick hug and a hurried "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" before being swept out of the hall, or even a small gift of some sort. I just happened to be in the car with my mom on my way to the store when I found out I had forgotten, so it was perfect timing. I loaded myself up on all the ingredients I would need to make her an awesome cake. But cakes are a little boring if you can't spice them up, so I decided to make her a cake-muffin. Muffin pans filled with cake batter. It was an amazing idea! Except for how it turned out to be a bigger mission than I had planned and took me hours to make/clean up; I even missed my show! It was worth it though, to tell her I had a surprise for her tomorrow, and then today see her smiling face as I showed up with four huge white & purple icing cake-muffins with a personal note from me on the aluminum foil I'd topped the container with.

She ate one at lunch today (she showed up to my lunch, a welcomed surprise!). She loved them, even if she was sure she would fall into a diabetic coma from the sheer sugary goodness of it. I felt really happy to have made her happy. I realized that people who give-give-give have got something really special, because it can be really hard to put yourself on the back burner. I had a mountain of dishes to do, my back hurt from bending over bowls and scrubbing, and I was dead on my feet. But I did something for someone who appreciated it, and it made her feel special. That feeling alone made me feel like I'd gotten the gift.

I think people need to think less of themselves at times, and more of others. It would honestly make our world a happier, shinier, more beautiful place.

Happy Friday!

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