A special day

He was sleeping like a kid, resting his head on her bosom, but Jack suddenly woke up from sleep, wondering if he had overslept yet again. Lying motionless on his bed, he looked at his watch and muttered, "It's kind of too early!". It was just six in the morning and sun rays were just beginning to peek through the olive trees outside his room. “Why did I wake up so early?” He couldn’t help but wonder why and how he woke up suddenly from deep sleep, as there was about one more hour to hear the blaring noise of his earsplitting alarm. Snuggling cozily into his pillow, he was about to sleep for an hour more, as he felt he wasn’t fully awake. But sleep was gone! To surprise him more was the unusual kind of freshness that he felt, which made him whistle one of his favorite songs, the one that he has sung many times while in college, especially to woo Debbie, his then girlfriend and now wife of two years. He felt unusually happy and excited for the day, but had no specific reasons to mention. “Is the day special; an important one in my life which I can’t remember?” Although he kept asking this to himself several times, he couldn’t find anything special about the day.

Looking besides him, he saw Debbie sleeping peacefully, hugging him tightly. Is she smiling in sleep? For a moment, he felt as if he saw an adorable smile on her face. Planting a tender kiss on her forehead, he left the bed and reached near the window pane. The morning was as beautiful as his wonderful wife, he thought. Being busy with his night shifts and back to back meetings the whole night, for more than a month, he had almost forgotten the last time he enjoyed the beauty of a pleasant morning, as he used to hit the bed by early morning and used to sleep till late noon. The busy schedules finally got over the day before, and now, he is back to his ‘normal’ days.

By the time he was at the dining room, after a refreshing bath, he saw Debbie near the table, ready to serve him a scrumptious breakfast. She was looking so beautiful that he couldn’t take her eyes off her for a few minutes. “Is today a special day?” he asked her while sitting close to her for the breakfast. As always, she just smiled adorably, but her blue eyes kept telling him that the day is indeed very special and he is forgetting something important about it. He kept wondering what it could be, but nothing came in to his mind. Cursing his workload and tensions, he managed to finish his breakfast and reached for the car key and his bag. It was time to leave for the office and he hugged her as usual. She smiled and gave him a peck on his cheek, but again Jack felt he was missing something that he should have remembered.

Even after reaching the office on time, he was still in dilemma, as he was almost sure that he has forgotten something about the day, something he should have remembered, but didn't know what it was. It was almost ten in the morning when Nick, his brother, called him asking for suggestions to help him select a gift for Debbie, his beautiful sister-in-law. Yes, that rang the bell in his mind! “Oh! My god! It’s Debbie’s birthday today, and I completely forgot that!”

Jack almost slumped into the chair, placing his head on his palm. Forgetting Debbie’s birthday was something he had never done before! His sorrow started mounting when he thought about the moments he had spent with her in the morning, without wishing his dear one or giving her a memorable gift. He badly wanted to talk to her, to say sorry to her for what he had done.

After a couple of rings and anxious wait, he heard Debbie’s lovely voice. “Debbie, I am so sorry that I completely forgot your birthday. I didn’t wish you. I didn’t get you any gift. I am so sorry darling. I am extremely sorry for what has happened.” He really wanted to meet her and tell her how bad he feels for not remembering her birthday and how blessed he is to have her in life. “No problem. When I have you in my life, to love and support me unconditionally, what more do I need. No matter if you forget my birthday or our anniversary, I know you will never forget to stop loving me crazily. I love you Jack.” Saying this she hung the call, and tears rolled down his eyes. Thanking god again for having her in his life, he went back to work, so that he could finish them as fast as possible and get back home to celebrate Debbie’s birthday.

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This is my first attempt to write something entirely different from the usual writing style of mine. This post is based on a prompt that I was provided by one of my colleagues. It’s a picture that I have uploaded right here, in the middle of the post. I was asked to write a post based on the picture, and here is what I wrote. Hope you have liked the post. Please send me your genuine comments and suggestions.

How I celebrate my birthday

Ask me about my birthday plans for this year, or about those bygone birthdays, and I would give you a shock of a lifetime. Do you know why? I don’t celebrate birthdays! If I say I haven’t celebrated my birthday yet, not even once in all these adventurous thirty three years, I am sure you all will have just one reply to say, and that’s I am a liar, a shameless, bloody liar who’s badly craving for your sympathy by portraying myself as a woman who was deprived of the entire happiness that she should have received in all these years. But believe me or not, I haven’t celebrated my birthday even once in all these years. Though birthday celebrations where never forbidden at my home, December 22nd, the day I came in to this world, often went-by just like the other days of the year. It was not because no one was really interested in celebrating my ‘beginning’, but birthday celebrations just didn’t happen, instead I was made to understand that one should never splurge money on trivial things, instead on something useful and genuine. Right from childhood, I was ‘well trained’ to not ask for grand birthday parties and expensive gifts. Being not used to any kind of birthday treats, I never had anything to crib about and never did it ever, at any point of my life. There were no cake cuttings, no new dresses, and no elaborate parties and no gifts from anyone. In short, every birthday of mine went by just like other usual days and I didn’t have any complaints about not having memorable birthdays and attractive birthday presents. As everyone around was so tied-up in their own worlds, busy with their own works, I forced myself focus on mine too and moved on, instead of ranting about why I was not wished or why I didn’t have colorful dresses or memorable birthday parties like most of my classmates.

I am really not in to spending money on birthday parties or dresses. I’ve never asked my parents why I didn’t have them, nor did they try explaining why they arrange anything for me all these years. Not having flamboyant dresses and exciting birthday parties are not things that I have regretted at any point of my life.  May be because I’ve never known how it would be like if I had them each year, but I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much as I enjoy my birthdays now. Do you want to know why? As I grew up and started becoming self depended, birthdays were those days of the year when I made sure to do at least one charity work, mostly in the form of donations to cancer centres and orphanages, or even to the temple nearby our home, so that they can feed some of the poor people, mostly children, old men and women, who are often found begging in front of the temple. Those little acts of kindness give lots of happiness and satisfaction, much more than how I would have felt amid grand parties and a flood of birthday presents. Rather than feeding the well-off with a scrumptious birthday lunch, I prefer feeding the poor and needy every year, not because I want people to go gaga over my broadmindedness and kindness, but because it gives me a lot of happiness to see their innocent and contented smiles. More than the glitz of a pair of gold earnings, an expensive dress or an advanced mobile phone, the best gift that I prefer on my birthday is the smile that I can bring on the face of a needy, by lending a helping hand. For this reason, I am happy that my dad and mom never tried spending money on my birthdays or never threw lavish parties for me, made me feel that birthdays are those must-celebrated days of the year.  It has helped me get contented with normal birthdays, so that I can generously donate something every year and help at least one of those needy people out there, perhaps the best possible way in which I can celebrate my birthday.