I was very productive on my
birthday. I got errands done, ate yummy food, and hung out with familia.
I enjoyed a yummy pastry- like dessert from Cowleys Bakery
with a Starbucks Frappuchino bottle. THANK YOU US MINI MARKET!. I thought of
singing happy birthday to myself before eating it, but decided against it. I talked
to my mom, brother, and dad. That was cool.
I went to my cousins house
and hung out with them and then hung out with my other little cousins across
the street. They had a Christmas event going on along with heaps of food
provided by the attendees. Pizza, chow mein, fried rice, and a bunch of realllly good food. YESSS! And I
was thinking of going out for dinner, but Im really glad I didn’t. I would’ve missed
out on all this free, good food! The best
part about being with the family is the younger kids. They
are sooo entertaining, so cute, and just say the funniest things. The little
boys performed the All Blacks Haka for me. =D
No one really knew it was
my birthday and no one made it a big deal and that was really ok with me. I didn’t
really want anything big. I had so much that needed to get done, errands
became a priority over birthday celebration. The day before my birthday, I wasn’t
actually really all that excited. I duno. Maybe because sooo many other cools
things have happened. Also, I just got back from Vavau where I had an excitement high
for a whole 2weeks... turning a year
older didn’t really make the cut for “ohhh super cool”. I was pretty nonchalant
about it actually.
I had big plans for my
birthday and those plans just up and died. Kappoooot... However, I wasn’t really
that disappointed. Actually, I wasn’t disappointed at all. I’m use to things
not working out, especially here in Tonga. I played the whole day by ear and I
was very happy. I was happy I got to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do
it. Being left alone was probably the biggest gift for me.
The only ONE thing I wanted
to do was visit the hospital I was born
at- Vaiola Hospital.. ( Vai- is water Ola- don’t know but the word “Vaiola” is a place
kind of like purgatory in the old Tongan culture. When one died, they believed
they went to a place under the earth. There is a pool in which one must enter into if one desired to return to earth. The pool's name is Vaiola. Vaiola was
probably a place for a transformation
process from dead to alive. It’s an appropriate name for the hospital. )
After returning from my
cousins, I went with my Uncle to the hospital. The hospital is currently under construction
and the room was I born in had already
been remodeled. While walking around, I tried to think what this place would
have been like 19 years ago. Putting together all the stories I’ve heard of my
birthday,I imagined my aunts and uncles all around the hospital, waiting for
me. I imagined my mother in pain and my
dad crying. Haha. 19years, while still very young considering life expectancy these
days, is still a long time to be alive.
“I've lived in 3 decades, 2
centuries & 2 milleniums & I'm not even 20 yet!” – facebook group.
“Age does not determine
maturity, life experiences and one’s relationship with God shows one’s maturity.”
I hope and pray that God keeps decking out more great experiences for me and
molds me more to be like Christ.
Right now I don’t have any
particular goals for my 19th year, but I do have new perspectives
and insight about life and I am very excited for this year!
I wasn’t sad to have had a very,
very, very low key birthday and weirdly, I wasn’t sad that no one was saying
Happy birthday to me. Usually, I’m like “let the bells ring and shout it to the
neighbors that TODAY is MY BIRTHDAY.”
This year, not so much. Maybe I’m just growing up. I do care about birthdays
but this one didn’t seem particularly THAT exciting to me. Just +1 year. I just
realized right now that is my last “teen year”. Hmmm. Now, it might be kind of
a big deal….
I haven’t celebrated a
birthday in Tonga for 12 years! I am happy to have been in Tonga for a birthday
and that I went to Vaiola Hospital.
posing as if it was red-carpet backdrop =P behind this glamorous backdrop is the room my mom gave birth to wonderful little me. Thanks to my Uncle Ofa for remembering the location.
Ps. Last year, I was very,
very, very , bummed that I wasnt in Tonga for my 18th birthday. I
thought itd be the ultimate thing to celebrate it in Tonga. Well, I was very
wrong. My friends took me out in the morning and then I attended an amazing
concert by Ragazzi Boys Chorus (my brother’s choir). It was definitely the
better deal to have been in the States for my 18th and then 19th
in Tonga. God knew that. J He knew where I’d have the most fun and where I’d be most
fulfilled. Thanks God. J
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