Hello! It was AY's Birthday yesterday!
Its an unusual day spent at school, teaching and working. And then one colleague came and exclaimed that it was my birthday! Then those in my zone started to wish me haha. Well, at least they bothered to say a greeting... sort of like a Good Morning Ms Yeo. A formality, a politeness and a kind gesture. :)
I started the day with a hearty Mcmuffin meal and aromatic coffee (my fav!) and then came my much awaited lunch!!! Because of COVID and CB, I couldn't spend the day with K, so I chose my lunch which he readily sponsored haha! I waited 1 month for my Fish and Chips okay... So when it arrived after school, I took out the lunch box with jittery excitement and then opened it! WHOA!!!!! GLISTENING BROWN AND BIG PIECES OF FISH AND SKINNY LENGTHY FRIES that I couldnt wait to bend into my mouth HAHA. I was that ecstatic. Then, Colleague came by to ask questions and I instinctively covered the box! He must have been envious of my scrumptious lunch!!!
I was really happy eating it. I had many criteria. It has to be of a big portion and fulfilling for my tum tum, I did not want cheap Dory fish so I had Haddock!!! I was so happy munching on it and was full soon after (half the portion) so I decided to pack the rest nicely and fly home to SHARE WITH MUM!!! Dad wasnt in. And so, I did. I packed up in 10mins and flew home with my precious meal in hand. Mum was happy, AY was happy! :D
It was a eating day so I decided to workout for health's sake haha! Did the Squat Challenge for school purpose and uploaded onto social media. And halfway through, the doorbell rang! It was a stranger with a box in her hand! I thought... hmmm.. was she a neighbour? Did someone deliver something to me, was she a delivery woman? HAHA turned out she belonged to unit 11-48. She said that the item was delivered to her home but she had called the delivery company and clarified that it was meant for 11-46 (ME) and she brought the entire box back to me! I was touched by her honesty and kindness to return the box of sweet back to the birthday girl. It was a pleasant surprise! BFF LSH ordered it for me! She went on a quest to uncover my address, through mutual friend S and then through none other than K. Haha! Ingenius, creative, resourceful and cute pals I have! I was impressed!
For dinner, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, mum cooked mee sua and a hard boiled egg!!!!!!!!! She commented that I had no egg today so she would cook me an egg. I kept mum about my morn mcmuffin egg haha! Wow!!! An egg and meesua for bday, for longevity and health? Why not!!! It was a gigantic bowl. Too much for me, but guess what, it was AY's birthday and I FINISHED IT ALL!
Mum has never done such things for me. I shared with K how I dreaded birthdays because of numerous bad memories. Memories of solo birthdays, unremembered ones and awkward ones like my 18th or 21st where my parents absent in it entirely. There was also an incident of a thrown-at-me angbao. Oh wells, those were the worst! But today, I felt like a princess, was it a miracle??? Mum gave me an angbao this year and wrote "Thank you for being my daughter." *Cries me*.
She has mentioned previously that I was her greatest reward and she is very lucky to have me. But this angbao and the money inside, went into my time capsule, paperclipped to my 'diary' with everything intact. And I hope one day I will recall this magical day once again :)
Dad forgot all about my birthday. He didnt care A LEAST BIT. No wishes, no angbao. It was okay, its been like this for the recent... 4, 5 years now? Mum asked if I was disappointed. I replied "Nope, its okay! Its not the first time and Im used to it!" She said "Good that you are positive and can think positively. But if I forgot, you will be sad right?" To which, I responded "Nope, its okay. If you forgot nevermind, will just treat it as another day!"
"Good that you know how to console yourself :)", Mum complimented. =)
One last happy thing was all the wishes from resourceful students who found out. Its okay, its harmless joy received from them and Ms Yeo was happy :)
At night my mood sorta plummeted as the hours waned. The day was ending. Birthdays are so transient. Are people remembered merely on a One Day like this? Tmr, things go back to the norm. Why was there a sudden change in mum's actions? Was it cos of my strained family relations that she decided to show me more love and gratitude, was it because I was gonna get married and move out and she would miss these little milestones in my life with me? Without K, who would have treated me to WHATEVER food I wanted for the day? Without my BFF, who would have allowed me to meet a new stranger-neighbour that I would have never met? Without my career, where would the cheerful texts from students, never received. It all felt too fleeting for a day and there were too many emotions for me to handle, and thus incredulously, I cried till my body trembled on the bed. Doing this reflection now that it has passed, I find my goldfish eyes welling and tissue paper in my mouth. ROFL.
In conclusion, my emotions went from one spectrum to the end all in a day, just like how the bolded coloured words in this post progressed through the lines. I experienced generosity and love like I have never had. It was the most memorable birthday in years, at least for the recent 5 years. No dates, no fancy dinners, no makeup, no free day. Just a casual working friday, but it was a lovely day. Happy memories dont flow naturally in my mind as the unhappy ones are more signficant and often clouds over everything else. But I had to chronicle yesterday so that I will remember.
I think, afterall, I still dislike birthdays. Look at the whirlwind of emotions it puts me through every.single.time. Im officially apprehensive of future 12 Junes.
It was a special day.
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