I remember waking up last Friday to the sound of my younger brother frantically searching for a gift bag. It was our mother’s birthday. We had the cake, we had the fancy dinner reservations, and we had a beautifully wrapped box sitting on the counter. But as I watched him struggle with the tissue paper, … Read more
It was exactly 11:58 PM. I remember sitting on the edge of the bed, the only light in the room coming from my phone screen, which was glaringly bright against the dark. My thumb was hovering over the “Send” button. I had written and deleted the same sentence about fourteen times. “Happy birthday!” felt too … Read more
I remember digging through a box of old photos last summer when I stumbled upon a tattered, slightly yellowed envelope. Inside was a hand-drawn happy birthday card from my best friend in third grade. It wasn’t perfect—the glitter was falling off, and the drawing of a “cake” looked more like a lopsided hat—but the feeling … Read more