17th...

See? Happiness.

May 10, 2013 – it is a sunny Friday morning. I wake up groggily and found my phone ringing wildly beside me. I read the messages and they all say, “Happy Birthday!” Oh great, it's my birthday. Who the heck would forget their birthdays by the way?

 I'm extremely drained from all the travelling just because of the UP pre-enrolment. So I asked myself, "Will I make plans with my friends or maybe I could just sleep all day...on my birthday?" Then my parents come into my room and smothered me with hugs, kisses and a bunch of greetings. Too bad they don't have a present for me, though. Nah, I'm just kidding. HAHA.

But I did get sad...just a little. I never found any of my friends’ names on my inbox. I think they forgot. So I call them up and told them what day it is. Do you know what's worse? They never even bothered to greet me. Hey, it's my birthday! Could you just give me a bit of considerations here?! My friends really are awesome, huh? Despite the pranks they're having on me and even though I'm tired, I ask them if we could go to Kampo Juan – a famous place in Bukidnon where you can try to ride a bicycle on wire, zipline, and pass through a hanging bridge above the towering mountains. I've never been there yet. I told them it's my birthday wish.

Phew. I'm glad they said yes. In my mind I said, "Dora, come on, vamonos! Let's go an adventure!" As I'm going to one of my friends' house, I called her and said I'm on my way. She thinks I'm bluffing or something. So I ring the doorbell. She sees me and shrieks like a kid who got her toy stolen. She hasn't even taken a bath yet. Then my other friends arrive. They have those 'sarcastic-slash-disappointed-slash-mad' faces written all over them. Then one of them tells me, "You messed up with our plans!!! Shunga!" I just laughed at them.They were supposed to be the ones who should surprise me. Instead, they were the ones who were left wide-eyed. HAHAHAHAHA. If you only saw their faces...

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I ask them, "Are we all ready for the trip?" I think I'm too stupid to ask them that question. Of course they are! So, we invade the adventure park, started taking pictures, and shared some laughter and chitchats. Though it is tempting to try the ziplines and pass through the frightening hanging bridge, we haven't because we don't have the greens to pay 'em. But that did not stop us from enjoying the place. We started running around the greenery like little kids. Then the rain starts to fall hard so we looked for some shelter.

Then the rain stopped. Okay, I think it's time to go home now. The fun's over...or maybe not yet. We rummaged through our friend's kitchen cabinets and found some bag of chips and ramen. Let the pigging out begin! And that's how the day ends...or not.

They were writing their birthday messages for me

During the night, my phone starts buzzing. Ugh. "Who's stupid enough to call me at this time of night?!" I complain. Then I see his unsaved number  flashing on my phone screen. Oh, great. It's my ever-annoying old flame. I pick up the phone and placed it on my ear. I hear his breathing over the static. He says, "Happy birthday, Rik...." I feel my heart throb faster than the chug-chug-chug of a steam-powered train. He starts singing some love songs we used to listen to so I started laughing.  Hearing him sing makes me feel the cold rush of nostalgia run through my veins. The phone call lasted for an hour and I fall asleep.

So that was how I celebrated my seventeenth birthday. Nothing grand really happened. There were no flashy presents and emotional messages. But for me, every second of that day was special. They were  the memories that were worthy to keep. The laughter was real and natural, the moments were simple yet priceless, and the happiness – genuine.

Everything that happened on my birthday made me realize one thing – to treasure every second you spend with your loved ones. Every moment you spend with them is a moment you would never replace with other things. You never know what may happen next. And those timeless, priceless moments, they will never happen again, ever. Make every second count. Because sometimes in life, those little things pass off in a blink of an eye. You may just realize that they were the big things that you shouldn’t have missed.