My Birthday Party

Last February, I experienced something new: a party with my friends. My birthday parties were usually just family and maybe one friend, but
this time I got to invite several friends. Lupe arrived first. She and I have been growing apart for a while, so it was awkward with just her there. I talked to her for a few minutes, then the others got there. When everyone had just arrived, we hung out in the hallway at first
because it was a little awkward. My mom had hired a girl to do our nails, so when she arrived we all went into the living room where she

got started on our nails. At that point, everyone started having fun.
I hadn’t seen, Lara or Duu’aa in a while; I got to catch up with them then, which I very much enjoyed. Lara is often stressed out. That
night, however, she was in a very good mood so we had fun just talking. I hadn’t seen Duu’aa in over a year, so I was very excited
that she was coming. I was happy to see her and Lara and just talk them. The conversations themselves weren’t anything special; it was
just seeing two friends I’d missed that made me so happy. Ashley had drunk too much coffee earlier that day, so she was very hyper.
This made the party more fun, because she kept laughing at everything, which made me laugh. That was the most fun I had in as long as I can remember. Nothing could bother me that night. I don’t have much of a social life; despite this being my sixteenth birthday party, it was the first time I’d had lots of friends over and it put me in the best mood I remember ever being in. This experience reminds me of what God said in Genesis: “It is not good for man to be alone.” To me this says that I need to become closer to my friends, because I long for deeper friendships.
This party is a wonderful memory to me. I thought I held on to it because I felt so happy that night, but looking back now, I realize that it’s
more than that. I held on to this memory because it was a time that I had a taste of something I want so badly- lots of close friends. Grandma says that because I never went to school, I never learned how to make friends. I think she’s right about that. However, while I never
gained social skills that other kids have gained from going to school, I gained something much more precious- a solid foundation in my Catholic faith.
Being raised in a strong Catholic Christian environment, I was sheltered from many bad influences. I do wonder what would have happened if I had gone to public school, but I am grateful to my parents that I wasn’t. It would probably have been much easier for Mom to put my
siblings and I in school and let others take care of us during the  day, but she didn’t do that. She loved us enough to sacrifice the time that many other mothers have to themselves during the school day and to sacrifice in many other ways also. She continues to do so
everyday.