Twenty-Eight

True story: Two days after this festive birthday party my mother turned 28 and for a couple of seconds, maybe even long minutes, my world fell apart. Two days after I turned 5 we were at my grandmother's house celebrating my mother's birthday. There were 28 candles on top of her cake. I tried to count all the candles but realized there were too many to count. This meant my mother was old. I panicked and cried. Old means death and I was convinced my mother would soon die from her 28 years of old age. Maybe I was comforted by my grandma or maybe I was called stupid by my older cousins, probably a combination of both. The good news is that today my mom is alive and well. Today I'm alive and well. Today I turn twenty-eight.

I don't feel old. In fact I barely feel old enough to have a 5 year old of my own (Enzo's birthday is so coming up!) or even a 1 year old, or a husband for that matter. Today I will not be in Brazil having a cake decorated with my favorite childhood doll, Monica. I will not share it with my favorite cousin, Cauê, the geeky dude with the glasses who's next to me on the picture, who now sports mean dreadlocks and a chaotic combinations of piercings and tattoos all over his body. I will be here with another sweet cousin and another type of cake with love number 1, 2, and 3. And friends. Always friends.

I couldn't count up to 28 when I was 5 yrs old which means that I couldn't posibly have imagined all the different experiences I would have that would guide me to where I am today. I'm excited for where life will continue to take me. I can't possibly imagine all the adventures I'm sure will come my way.

Christian asked me what I wanted for my birthday.  I honestly can't think of a single physical thing I want or need at this time. I've had some readers e-mail me and ask if they could send me a gift. Thanks for being thoughtful. More importantly thanks for letting me share bits and bites of my life with you. 

When The Food Librarian turned 40 she asked her readers to leave a comment on her blog telling her where they were from and leaving a birthday message to boot. I thought that was a fun way to carry her over to the next year so I'm going to do the same because if there is one thing I've learned in my 28 years of life is to not be afraid to ask for what I want (my math skills, on the other hand, are still rudimentary).

And today I want you to leave a comment. I really do. Mainly I just want to know where you're from (specially you lurkers, here is your chance to show yourself). Knowing I have friends far and wide is exactly what I want for my birthday.

Hooray for Birthdays!