Yesterday, a friend called and invited me to his upcoming birthday party, a party I doubt I’m going to attend, not because I don’t want to but because I really don’t see the point in birthday parties.
While growing up, my parents (especially my dad) didn’t put any importance to things like this. No one celebrated anything. No birthday celebration, nothing. One would think that at least the man would celebrate Christmas which is said to be Jesus birthday (even though there’s no prove of that in the Bible) but no, he’s not scared of anyone.
So we grew up in a family where we love each other to death but hardly show any affection (to be fair, I think this is every African family). And I know birthday celebration sometimes can be unnecessarily expensive but there are little ways he could have celebrated it if he wanted to but the old man didn’t see any importance in this things and no one said anything.
So now when I get invited to birthday parties, my old man’s sense kicks in and I start seeing everything as a waste of money when in reality it actually isn’t (depending on how much you spend though). Like I always say, life is short. Enjoy every moment of it and create beautiful memories.
When I get kids of my own, I will make sure I normalize things like celebrating our little wins and hugging each other, even saying I love you to one another. Celebrate as much birthday as we can even if it means us gathering in the living room and sharing a bottle of wine, no matter how little it is, I will try my best to make it special for everyone.
When they say it’s the little things that matters, they aren’t only talking about relationships but family too.
But all this still doesn’t change the fact that my friend will be spending a lot of money that he probably doesn’t have and so therefore, I might decide not to go for the birthday party.
P.S The real reason why I might not go is because I’m too lazy to leave this house.. shhhh