I thought I’d be better off acting like my birthday didn’t exist then finding out that no one actually cared. This was two years ago. What I believed wasn’t true, but I was convinced.

I was going through one of those seasons in life, feeling disconnected and living isolated. (I feel like we’ve all been there) I should have reached out to a friend, but instead I kinda took it out on myself. My birthday was coming up and so it looked an easy target. I hid my birthday on my facebook and gave vague answers when someone would say “hey, isn’t your birthday coming up?”

I justified this by saying that me celebrating a birthday would be selfish and that I had no right to celebrate. (I’m not sure why i thought this, I actually love celebrating my friend’s birthdays) My only plan for that day was to hide.

My grandma called me the morning of August 6th to wish me a Happy Birthday. She doesn’t have facebook to remind her and she never forgets. She wasn't really sure where I was living at the time (I move around alot) she insisted that I give her an address. She’s been writing me birthday cards before I could read and I have them all saved somewhere. I have no reason to doubt that she cares about my birthday more than she cares about her own. I had no intention of changing my mind about my birthday, but after hanging up the phone I realized I already had. And that's when it hit me.

My birthday is not about me. It’s never been about me at all. Birthdays are actually for the people who love and value you. Birthdays are for the people who celebrate you not because they have to, or because you’ve earned it, or deserve it, but because they want to. It was selfish of me to close myself off to the people who care so much. As long as I know someone who wants to celebrate, I'll have a reason to. So for me, my birthday is actually mothers day. My birthday is fathers day. It’s thanksgiving. It’s a day for me to give thanks to the people who care.

So anyway! Long story short, I needed to remind myself that my birthday isn’t about me, so that’s why I’m trying to raise $230 for clean water projects. I’m kinda afraid that no one is actually going to give and that people are gonna make fun of me for being such a Charity Water fanboy. (I confess, it’s true) But I would be eternally and forever grateful for your generosity. And for everyone who chose to read this, all I can do is say 'Thank you'.