"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the crowd of my friends and relatives roared loudly and jumped out from their hiding places as my mother and I walked through the front door!
I screamed! I am quite sure that my reaction was not exactly the reception that the people at my party had expected. Later, when I got a chance, I elbowed my mother in the ribs and got her off to the side. We had just returned from a scary movie that was edging real close to being inappropriate. It wasn’t a slasher movie but it was scary and had me on edge which undoubtedly was why I screamed when everyone jumped out at me.
“Mother, why didn’t you warn me about the surprise party?!” I scolded her. “You had to know I was ready to jump out of my skin after that movie!"
Mother gave me one of those reproachful looks that only mothers are capable of. She grabbed my arm and turned to our guests.
“We’ll be right back everybody. We’re going to change.”
My mother and I walked back to our bedrooms. I was glad she said that. I wanted to put my jeans on, relax and have a good time.
I was in my room when my mother came in. She had put on a pair of jeans, too. My mother was so cool. She looked good in her jeans and was thin and young enough that she didn’t have to wear “mom” jeans.
She wanted to talk about the movie. She didn’t want any hard feelings between us. I wasn’t upset with her but that was the way Mother was. She always wanted us to be close and loving – and we always were.
She reminded me that she had asked me at one point during the movie if I wanted to stay or go.
“Remember when the woman was alone in the house and the bad guy was breaking in?”
“How could I forget?!”
“Well, right then I turned to you and whispered, ‘Hey, let’s go. It’s too scary.’ And what did you do but shush me. And I think if I remember correctly, you said something like it was just getting to the good part.”
“What I meant. . . well we had watched it that far. I had to find out what happened. I’m glad the girl got away from that freak!”
My mother smiled and hugged me. “Honey, I sure didn’t connect the movie with the surprise that was waiting for you at home. I should have realized that you wouldn’t have been in the mood to have a bunch of people jump out and yell at you. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. I know it wasn’t on purpose and hey look at me. I lived!” I did a quick cartwheel across the floor.
My mom laughed at my silliness. But I was giddy and ready to party down! My mother picked up my brush and smoothed out my hair. She talked to me as she was fussing with my long brown hair that she was always so proud of.
“Honestly, when I think about it, I would have reacted exactly the same way you did after seeing that movie if I hadn’t known what was going to happen. I won’t do that to you again.”
“Don’t worry about it, Mother, I would have really been upset if you would have dragged me outta there. It was well done, for a scary movie anyway. Besides that, it was my fault in the first place. I was the one that suggested it. But we had fun, didn’t we, Mother?”
“We sure did.” She got closer and whispered in my ear even though no one else was around. “Don’t tell anyone, especially Grandma, just how much fun we had.” My mother was smiling.
I whispered back. “Are you possibly talking about all the candy, popcorn and soda we had?”
Mother nodded. “They’ll all think we’re watching our waistlines when we don’t eat our cake.”
“Speak for yourself, Mother. I plan on eating mine.”
Mother laughed again. “Come on. Let’s go out and join our guests.
I felt I owed those nice people an apology. I, of course, didn’t want the party guests to feel bad or think they had done anything wrong. They’d gone to all the trouble of coming and I couldn’t help but notice the large pile of presents on the table by the large birthday cake that one of the nice ladies must have baked for me while my mother and I were at the movies stuffing ourselves.
But when Mother and I returned to the family room, I was doubly embarrassed when they began apologizing for scaring me. I assured them that I always scream when I’m surprised. My mother backed me up and she said she was the same way. I assured them that the party was the best surprise I have ever had!
For the rest of the party, I made certain that I was laughing and smiling, trying to show them that I was having a great time and enjoying myself.
I managed to act normal the rest of the evening even when Mother lit my cake and Dad insisted I blow the candles out.
"Aysha, come on over and blow out the candles!" Dad said.
"Don't forget to make a wish!" I heard someone say.
I appreciated the party and enjoyed the company of my family and friends. It was a good distraction for me since I had been burying myself in Christian readings for the past several months. I think my dad knew that I needed a break. Maybe he felt he had put quite a burden on my young shoulders. But I had asked for it and I knew that looking for the truth could never be a losing proposition.
Oh, yeah, and everybody got to sing Happy Birthday to me. I really thought I was getting too big for all this but I kept my cool and kept a smile on my face.
As promised, I ate my cake and even had a scoop of ice cream on top of it. I have to admit that after all the junk I ate at the show and then the ice cream on top of it, I was starting to get a tummy ache. But I soon forgot all about it because gift-opening time immediately followed the cake.
"Time to open your presents, Aysha!" Mother said, bringing several of the beautifully wrapped gifts over to me.
I was probably getting too old for all the presents from family friends and relatives, too. But I have to admit that I still enjoyed that. I was willing to suffer through the rest – the surprise, the singing and the candles – for the gift time. I guess that was greedy of me but it was fun and I was very thankful, and hopefully, gracious to everyone.
My grandmother just gave me a card as usual with a big check inside. Raleigh mall—here I come, I thought to myself. One aunt gave me a cute top and another gave me a Christian CD. Hmm, I thought to myself, this will come in handy in my research for “the deal.” A cousin gave me a Christian book – even more research material! Mother and Dad had already given me their gift which was a Kindle reading device and some really cool clothes. The Kindle would help in the massive amount of reading I had to do. I could download books on my Kindle and read away no matter where I was. I felt really blessed. Not so much from the gifts, though I was grateful for them, but from the love I felt from everyone, especially my parents and my grandma.
My dad loved to take pictures which could be downright annoying sometimes. But I was a good sport. After all it was my dad and he was never really annoying.
Dad smiled widely as he walked over to me. As usual, he was able to make every gathering more fun. He was grinning because he couldn’t wait to see my reaction to what turned out to be a horrible picture of me. He had the photo in his hand.
"Look at this picture! This is a classic!" he said, showing me the picture he had taken.
In the photo, my eyes were wide with pure terror and my hair was a terrifying swirl from having jumped at the surprising presence of the guests and the loud greeting I received. It was not a flattering picture of me and I really didn’t want it to be the memorable keepsake from the party.
“Tear that copy up and delete the original, Dad!" I shouted as he was showing the picture to others at the party. But he didn’t listen and went about his merry way showing everyone at the party the picture of his freaked-out daughter. But my dad was having fun and entertaining the guests even if it was with a horrid picture of the birthday girl!
Several times during the party, my mind would drift off to all the reading and researching I had been doing over the summer. I hoped my guests hadn’t thought I was rude since my mind and thoughts were obviously, at times, elsewhere.
Still lost in my own thoughts and concerns, the party was coming to a close and my guests were gathering their things together to leave. I thanked them all for coming and my gratitude was genuine.
"Did you have a good time?" my mother asked as we were cleaning up. I think she noticed that I was distracted and not focused on the nice party that my parents threw for my thirteenth birthday. I didn’t want to appear ungrateful because I really did appreciate the celebration. I didn’t want to share with my mother that my mind had been wandering to the reading and studying I had been doing. I knew that she didn’t know what thoughts I had been lost in. Telling her would only upset her which was something I didn’t want to do. I had learned to be careful not to discuss my doubts about our church and our Pastor with mother. I didn’t want her to be stressed over the struggle I was having with my questions and in finding the answers I needed. And, maybe I was wrong, but I didn’t think she’d understand what I was feeling.