The Most Valued Gifts

Although my birthday was in early June and my friend's birthday isn't until early September, we had our combined Sweet Sixteen Party together last night. I know it sounds kinda strange, but those of you who know about how our relationship works, you understand. As most of you know her, she's my kickboxing buddy. Makes sense now right? haha. Well anyways, last night was a great experience. It was a lot of fun, but A LOT of hard work too. (Especially the after-party cleaning. As presumed, it was not fun AT ALL). My emotions had been up and down all day, wanting everything to go right, and some iffy people to come. The random rain showers in the middle of the day definitely didn't help either. Thankfully, the rain soon ended. Things were kinda hectic, the moms running up and down dealing with food and yelling the time out to us every few minutes, the sibblings informing us of the guest count and doing last minute things for us, us trying to get dressed, and of course the parents wanting to take pictures. Then it was time. Time to go downstairs and make our entrance. My heart raced as I walked down the steps hearing "Imma bee Imma bee, Imma Imma Imma bee" while holding my best friend's hand. This was the moment. The moment we'd been preparing for, for God knows how long. The moment we'd been dreaming about. As soon as my heels hit the floor, all the nervousness melted away. I knew it was going to be great.. I didn't need to worry. Seeing everyone there was so exciting, and everyone was just excited to see us. All the bright faces around us.. it was exhilarating. Immediately we were greeted by all and we hugged and thanked people for coming. Then, sitting in the chairs in the corner, I saw two friends I was not expecting. That was the last of my worries; They tricked me by telling me they weren't coming, but ended up surprising me. And honestly, it was the best surprise. The rest of the night was spent partying and making rounds to all my different friends, my older friends, my current friends, my school friends, and even some brown friends.

Throughout the party, me and my friend kept talking about how excited we were to open presents and give each other the perfect gifts we had gotten for each other. After the dancing,

scary stories, balloon wishing and releasing, goodbyes, and cleanup of food and drinks, we finally changed and settled down to open presents. Usually when I receive presents, I simply glance over the cards and then direct my attention to the actual present. This time, however, it was different. I found myself spending more time admiring the cards than the presents. It

was interesting to see how they varied so much. Some were funny, some were cute, and some were so sweet. It was almost as if they each told a mini story about the person giving it to me. Some were ghetto like no other (one was literally a folded piece of paper, a bit crumpled, written in pencil), while others were shiny and sparkley. But honestly, none of that mattered. They each were special in their own way. Some made me laugh, while others would've made me blush if i was a bit paler. Soon I started to see a pattern... All of them included how much they loved all these aspects about me. Usually I would've been like "yeah yeah, it's my birthday so of course they have to say this stuff." But this time, I could feel the heartfelt messages in most of them. The problem is, I honestly don't think I live up to these great characteristics. I see where people get the idea, because that's the type of person I try to be. But deep down inside, I feel like I get more credit than I deserve. And now, I want to fix that. The perception I've recently seen that people have of me is the person I want to live up to. It was weird because all day today, random people have been randomly telling me about my how highly they think of me, and to be honest, I thought it was weird. It was not longer my birthday, or my party day. It was just a normal day. I seriously started wondering if there was some conspiracy or something going on today that I didn't know about. I felt as if any second now, someone would pop out of no where and yell "you've been PUNKED!" But then I got to thinking, and I realized that it truly is what people see me as, so it's my responsibility to comprise with these perceptions. Seeing what people had to say, from inside jokes and past experiences to feelings, really meant a lot. The tangible presents were there, but they didn't mean as much. I realized that the thoughtfelt messages and words of encouragement were even more meaningful. The happiness along with surprise I felt when I saw those two friends, who I knew had to pull so many strings to be there for me, was so overpowering. Later I realized that that right there was the best present they gave me, their presence. It meant more to me than any materialistic gift could. Those are the things that turned out meaning most to me.