My Last Birthday Wish (LOH 109)

25th November 2022

The year is about to end and my birthday is quite approaching. Now I can say that I'm not getting younger anymore, especially in my body. There are moments that I can feel it complaining and demanding for some attention. And a few years more, I would reach another milestone and real life will start. Because as they said, "Life starts at forty." I wonder though if I can reach that milestone. Of course, I pray for that.

Five years of staying abroad meant five years not celebrating my birthday with my family. Unfortunately, my birthdays in my first four years here always fell on weekdays. Thus, I was always busy at work on my special day. No celebrations, no gifts, and even greetings from people I am working with here abroad. During those birthdays without any greeting from them, I felt like I was forgotten. I didn't feel special on my special day. And every time they remembered my birthday, it was always late.

Those days are still vivid in my mind. The first two years were boring, then last 2020, it was the busiest birthday as I even worked overtime until night. They remembered my birthday in 2021 as we all thought it was my last year here. But for many reasons, my contract was always extended. I shouldn't actually anticipate more from them, because I am just a worker here.

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I was fortunate this year that my birthday fell on a Sunday, which gave me the chance to visit one of the happiest and biggest theme parks in Hong Kong, Ocean Park.
Furthermore, the park offers free entrance to all birthday celebrants during their birthdays, so I was able to explore Ocean Park for free. That was my happiest birthday because the place was one on my bucket list, and it was achieved on my special day.

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However, despite my happiness, there is always something missing in my heart. I may be happy, but deep inside I am sad. I am sad as the celebration isn't as happy as celebrations in my own home. There is always something missing. Not a cake, not greetings, not wishes, but my family.

If there are people who never forget my birthday, they are none other than my family. Despite being abroad, they always celebrate my birthday at home. It may be simple, but the thought of them remembering my birthday makes me feel so grateful.

Happy Birthday, RJ, that's what they call me, from my name, "Ruby Jane." They used melted chocolate to print happy birthday on the cake.

I remembered back when I was still in my country, there isn't a birthday of mine that we had no small celebrations at home. Our table always has food to share with everyone. My little siblings even envy me for always having a party and special food on my birthday. Little did they know that those are just remaining from the New Year celebration, lol.

My birthday is on the 2nd day of the new year. And it is in our tradition to welcome the new year with some food and celebrations at home. Foods are prepared not just for the family, but for anyone who would come to visit our house.

This was taken last new year. You can tell that they prepared the same kind of cake on New Year's eve and my birthday, lol. So I can tell that those cakes they prepared for my birthday are just remaining from the new year's celebration 😂. My mother probably bought more cakes just so she could save some for my birthday. That's what she usually does. I don't mind whether I have a celebration or none, just greetings from my family make me happy and make my birthday complete.

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I wish I could live longer and have more birthdays to come, so I could go back to my country and celebrate my birthdays again with my family.

However, death is inevitable. We don't know for how long we will exist here as our lives are just borrowed. The time will come when we will return it to our creator.

If this new year will be my last birthday, my only wish is to be able to go back home and celebrate my birthday with my family.

Five years is long, and it is half a decade. For half a decade I am suffering from homesickness and loneliness most of the time. I missed a lot of happenings and events in my family. My youngest sibling is now in secondary. Some are about to graduate in senior high and will go to universities or colleges. Two of the siblings already had their families. I missed a lot more events.

So I would like to celebrate my last birthday with my family. I don't like fancy celebrations. Just seeing us complete would make my birthday complete. That would be my last wish. We can spend my small celebration with my family and relatives at our small farm. It is closer to nature which I prefer the most. Or we can go to the nearest beach and enjoy basking in the sun. This is what we usually do every new year. We would spend the first day or first Sunday of the new year at the beach as a celebration of having a prosperous new year and a gift of new life.

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This is my entry to LoH contest with the topic:

Death is an unusual topic of conversation, but remembering death makes us appreciate life. If this were your last birthday, how would you like to celebrate it and why?

But my real wish for my birthday? That is to have a healthy life so I could live longer with my family. I still want to see my parents get older. I want to be their personal Caregiver. I want to see my little siblings graduating from courses of their choice, and becoming successful in the field they have chosen. I still want to play with my nieces and nephews, and see them grow. I still want to achieve my greatest dream, to travel to different places with my family.

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As to the other question:

What is your favorite musical instrument and why? Do you know how to play it? If not, do you think there are limits to learning to play it?

These two are my favorites, piano, and violin. The piano was my first favorite, then my desire to learn how to play violin grew here abroad when I saw a Chinese young lady playing this instrument.

I love listening to musical pieces played using these two instruments. I even wished to learn how to play them. One day I tried to practice on this piano, and watch videos on YouTube. It was too freaking hard to follow, especially since I don't know much about music.

Learning these two instruments need proper education. First of all, I need to learn how to read a musical piece. Those keys, notes, majors, minors, and whatsoever. Moreover, the violin seems more difficult than the piano. And I don't think I could stand holding the bow and violin for long, lol, especially since I suffered from arm muscle pain due to prolong usage of my phone when blogging. I would probably get tired immediately.

But someday, when I get more time. I would want to learn to play piano. Among these two, piano is my most favorite. I even imagined myself before playing piano on the stage. But that was just a daydream, lol. I know how to play one piece, the "twinkle twinkle little star" 😂 taught by this lady at home. However, when I played it back the other day, I already have forgotten about the proper keys. See? We need, not just passion in learning how to play a musical instrument, but a proper education. May it be in a school, or learning it from someone who is an expert in it.

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That's all for these topics of Ladies of Hive. I am inviting @charmingcherry @curioscatho @murakaamiiii to join the contest. For sure, you guys have favorite instruments too.

(All photos are mine)