Oh Happy Day: A look into Kaylah's 16th birthday!

Kaylah & I, 16 yrs later :)



           On April 16^th Kaylah and I "hit the road" for our drive North, to our hometown Brooklyn, New York.  We were both excited for different reasons.  I was anxious because I didn't have an elaborate celebration planned, but I was hopeful Kaylah would appreciate my efforts.  Kaylah was excited because she wanted to see her best friend and family that she had not seen since last year.

            Our excitement greeted by a small roadblock was in the form of bad weather.  There were severe thunderstorms with heavy rain that remained all of Saturday; however, we made it to grandma's house safe.  Once settled Kaylah's best friend came downstairs (she only lived one floor above) and another friend began reacquainting themselves; chatting up "girl stuff".  As I saw that I was not going to be included in this conversation, I decided to go take a nap.  After all, I had been on the road since the wee hours of the morning driving "6 hours or 340 miles".   (Mapquest, 2011). 

            The nap was short-lived as I awakened to darkness (during daylight hours) and loud booms outside my mother's window.  A tornado was coming from the south that was contributing to the bad weather that we found ourselves in the midst of.  I received several texts and missed calls while resting, from people inquiring if we were still going to go out to celebrate.  In the words of Noel Coward "The show must go on".  (Wikipedia, 2011). 

            Kaylah wanted to go to BBQ's a restaurant that offers an array of dishes.  There was seafood, pork, steak, different arrangements of rice and chicken, and other goodies.  The small group of family and friends that assembled already knew what they wanted because it is a spot they still frequent.  Kaylah and her friends must have thought it was their birthday too because they ordered shrimp, crab cakes, corn on the cob, chicken, the works.  There was not enough room on the table for everything.  The meal was as delicious to the stomach as it was appealing to the eyes when served steaming hot, right before you. 

            The adults had an alcohol filled beverage (strawberry daiquiri) to compliment their meal, and Kaylah inquired can I try it?  I just glanced at her and said yes, when you're grown, but it certainly won't be tonight.  Kaylah said I was only joking alcohol isn't good for you anyway neither is smoking, she told us you really shouldn't drink that stuff.  It was almost as if dinner turned into a brief PSA (Public Service Announcement).  The adults glanced at one another and said she told us!  I am glad she has adopted that way of thinking; I hope it stays that way!

            As dinner ended, I had whispered to the waiter, can he bring out cake and sing happy birthday?  He obliged.  After clearing the table about 5 minutes later, roughly six staff members came to us chanting "Happy Happy Birthday Kaylah".  We sang, we clapped, and she blew out her candle, smiled and thanked everyone.  Her smile, the aura, at that moment, was indescribable.  Mission accomplished!

            She opened some of the cards at the table, which; were filled with nice monetary gifts, as well as touching words, although I think she concentrated more on how much money she had for the game cards she wanted.  Teenagers we can't fault them for being true to who they are!  Count the money first; get the depth/meaning of the cards later!

            We gathered our belongings and made our way to the exit.  We headed towards our cars once outside, and the weather remained horrible; however, it was too nice of an evening for it to be overshadowed.

            The celebration continued into the next day, with the same family and friends coming to my mother's house this time.  There was more cake, my mom cooked dinner for her grandchild, who will always be a baby to her, and there was plenty of love and laughs to go around.  Music fused with the voices that carried through the rooms.  When things calmed down at the end of the evening, Kaylah came to me and said, thanks mom for bringing me to New York.  She said, "I love you".  I said, "I love you too".  Happy Birthday to my special lil' lady, glad it was all you expected it to be, hopefully more.

References

Mapquest (2011) Retrieved from the World Wide Web April 24, 2011. 

The show must go on (n.d.) Wikipedia. Retrieved from the World Wide Web April 24, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_show_must_go_on.