Growing up, my parents always made my birthday feel very special. I have a twin sister, so my parents always tried to make sure that we both felt exceptional that day, and that each of us got the things that we wanted. However, there was one thing that no one prepared me for when I went off to college, my first birthday away from my family.Â
Being away from home for the first time is hard, but the first birthday is something that I didn’t think about until it was actually my birthday. The morning of my birthday I woke up to decorations that my roommate put up for me, because she knew that my mom had always decorated the house for my birthday. This did make the day feel special, just not as special as it normally would be. I received a phone call from my parents both wishing me a happy birthday, and after I got off the phone with them, I realized how much being away from them on my birthday hurt. To make things a little harder, I was away from my sister for the first time as well, and this was the first time in 18 years that we weren’t with each other, which felt so strange. It almost felt like any other normal day, and that it wasn’t my birthday, just with how different everything was.Â
The normal birthday traditions didn’t exist that day. We didn’t go out to dinner as a family, or open presents while my mom frantically tried to capture our reactions on her phone. It wasn’t what I imagined turning 19 would be like. I knew that it was going to be different, but I didn’t anticipate the feeling of sadness. Not the sadness of getting older, but the sadness of missing my family and the traditions that I held onto since I was a kid. The things that made my sister’s and my birthday our birthday, weren’t there, and instead I was an hour away from my sister and three hours away from my parents. I did see my parents a day before my birthday because it was parents weekend, but that’s not the same as being with my parents on my actual birthday. I wanted the birthday hug that my parents would give me when I woke up, or the poorly sung happy birthday at the dinner table while my sister and I argued about who was gonna blow out the candles. It was different, and as a freshman I was still getting used to my new surroundings and routines, but this kind of different was something that I wish I would have been warned about.Â
I know this is only one year, and that next year will be different, but it is an experience that made me realize that from every birthday on, I will most likely spend it away from my family. Now, I have to create new traditions with friends to help fill the void of being away from my family and make my day just as special as my parents made it for me.