Birthday Joy

What came to pass, my birthday last 7th, it was just another ordinary day, or so I thought, especially here in Saudi Arabia, but nonetheless I tried to make it a little bit special of course by wearing red shirt, my Chinese heritage had me wear it, supposed to bring good luck and a happy day.

Early that day, much, much, earlier, just after midnight, a surprise call came in from a guy I know for quite sometime. He was someone, let's just say, I KNOW, he would come and see me every now and then, eat together, watch TV, had "fun" with each other. But I never thought he would be that thoughtful to call and greet me, I don't even remember we talked about it, and there he was greeting me and asked me if he could come that same night, and who am I to say no to that? He was ecstatic and happy over the phone.

After an hour he came and to my excitement and surprise he had with him a bouquet of red roses, fragrant and real pretty. He was beaming and gave me a kiss on my lips and a warm hug. He just made my day and stayed for a couple of hours, and me, smiling all night, which I cannot help and he was so sweet and tender that I didn't mind that I had only a couple of hours to sleep before going to work.

After he left, before I fall off to sleep, I was thinking that sometimes there are things we take for granted and yet these are the very things that would make us happy. It's not really the gift of material things, but the feelings of joy deep inside us. That call from someone I just know brought out a joy in the midst of restlessness, loneliness and non-direction. It did made a lot of difference in my line of thought. It made me stop for a while and re-think about my life, again, and to remind me to continue to find the meaning and purpose of my life.

The day went by just fine, work was the same, some officemates greeted me, and another surprise that night happened, my dear friend Ivy and Benjie had prepared a simple dinner get-together for me. Here, again, a reminder that simple things bring the greatest joy. We ate and shared thoughts and had a very nice dinner.

So my special day started and ended just as I hope it would be, simply to have a happy birthday and it was indeed.