September 19, 2020, a day that lasted so long. It started like any other Saturday morning with birds outside chirping and the sound of the living room TV playing one of my mom's many detective shows or murder cases. Today was going to be my 16th birthday party and a lot of my friends were going to come over for a taco bar. I could almost already taste the cheese and meat. I had gotten my license and it seemed like it was going to be a fun day. If this was any other day I would have been treated as such. But I was going to realize how important this and everyday really is because as the day went on it changed for the worse.

As I got out of bed and ready for the day, I went to find my parents. My mom was on the couch watching tv shows and my dad was outside moving old dusty things off the shelves in the garage. I went outside and talked with my dad for a while out on the breezeway, about my car and my new freedom to drive. I was feeling pretty good about the upcoming day but also disappointed that I got caught outside and now have to help setup. Then while he was moving old tables and getting boxes moved around I helped him a little then wandered off to look around the garage. I looked around and found old BB guns and old toys I used to mess around with. I then started shooting my BB gun and getting out old activities like ladder golf and corn hole out. I set these games up to better entertain my guests on this otherwise hot and humid day.

After a while I went inside to find my mom hard at work making tacos for the party. She makes some of the best tacos and we had around 5 pounds of taco meat. The smell of the meat was like a savoury feast for my nose. The dessert of that day was actually unknown because we never actually made it to dessert.

I had asked, “How long till everything is ready’.

“Not long I just have to put the rice in”.

“Great because I am starving to death”.

“Oh, shut your face”.

“Well I have to go lay down, I feel kinda sick”.

“Ok, don’t throw up”.

I didn’t fully question this because this was a normal occurrence for the last week. I let her go lay down and went outside to continue setting up for the party. I even drove down my long drive on the four-wheeler to help direct guests to my house. The ride down was fun and I got to see the sign my neighbor made me for my Birthday. As I went down I could smell the flowers my neighbor planted and even got to see a deer across the yard. As I got down the road I taped balloons to the mailbox and even checked the mail while I was down there. It was oddly calm at the bottom. It felt just too quiet like the highway didn’t have the usual sound of trucks driving down the road or the sound of the train rolling down the tracks. It was just silent down there.  I rode back to the top of the driveway and finished setting up. 

The first to arrive was my sister and her two kids. They gave me a card and I got in a little fight with my nephew. We ended it with a light body slam in the grass. I joked around with my niece about her blue hair for a little bit as well. Dylan and Gage showed up next with Dylan’s mom. We all decided to play Call of Duty and hang out. Next to arrive was Wyatt who came into my room and greeted us. While Dylan and Gage played games, me and Wyatt looked around my room and messed with things like nerf guns and swords my nephew played with. Rylie showed up next and as she did Landon texted me for a ride. Rather than move all the new cars in the drive, Rylie offered to take me over to his house to get him. We quickly got him and drove back. As we returned we spent a little longer in my room then we went outside. 

Outside I saw that my grandpa and my dad’s friend had arrived. I greeted them and took the cards they had gotten me. Me and my friend hung out front and talked and even played a little game of tag. When dinner came around we all piled in to eat some tacos. We all had a fun time outside with the light breeze and the mild weather. My mom was outside but she soon had to go lay down again which was starting to feel odd. 

After dinner we all went into the garage and Landon, being his weird self, started to clean Wyatts car while Dylan, Gage, and I joked about it. While we were joking my dad’s friend came out of the house white as a ghost and screamed, “Richard” and my dad immediately jumped up out of confusion. My mom came out next clutching her chest as the party guest ran around frantically. My dad went in and got my mom and rushed her to the car where they sped off rapidly. After they had gone we all just sat there dumbstruck by what had happened. My sister and the other guest helped pick up the mess in the kitchen while I took some of my friends home. Dylan and Gage stayed with me that weekend to help take my mind off the event. Sadly I never got to go to the hospital due to covid and only my father was allowed in. He would spend most of the day at the hospital and leave me alone at the house. Those couple days were kinda a blurry as I only got little bits of info on my mom and barely ate when dad was not home.

Later that week my mom came home and she told me she was having multiple minor heart attacks all throughout the week. She had to get stents implanted to help open up the arteries to her heart. My dad, fearful of his health, then got checked out and found out he was on the edge of heart problems and had to get surgery to replace bad veins. After the surgery we were all happy to have them come out ok and I just found it hard to believe it all happened on my birthday. Gage and Dylan were really helpful during the week even though Gage broke my trampoline. But overall it was a fast paced time and a lot had happened. I'm glad to have had this all blow over and all our guests that came out are fine. I learned that life is sacred and every second should be cherished and remembered.  But I still can’t decide if this was a birthday miracle or a curse?