About 20.989 years ago, my life was spared. My mom had some complications with her pregnancy and almost lost me.

And then 9.997 years after I was born, on the day before I turned double digits for my big 1-0, a student volunteer at my elementary school opened the passenger-side door for me after school but for some reason that day my mom told me to sit in the back. On our way home, a reckless driver sped through a red light and crashed into my mom’s car on the passenger side, deploying every airbag around the front seat and totaling a pretty sturdy BMW in the intersection. My mom’s injuries were pretty serious; my most vivid memory is the massive bruise that ran down the entire right side of her thigh that required months of treatment.

I was the lucky one that day. As a kid I was afraid of getting scolded for not doing what I knew I was supposed to do. When the firefighter asked whether I was wearing a seat belt, I remember that I was so scared that I lied and said yes when I in fact didn’t. I lived to see another day, again. I even got to watch Pokemon while waiting for my mom in the hospital that afternoon. Had someone driven the flimsy Accord that day, had my mom not waved off that student worker who opened the front door for me, had I sat in the front seat without a seat belt on, I don’t think I would still be alive right now. The following day was my 10th birthday and I remember looking at the candy and balloons around my desk, wondering how the whole world knew about the car accident. When my teacher wished me a happy birthday, I suddenly remembered that it was the day I had been looking forward to for the past two months. I even forgot about the Disneyland trip planned for that weekend.

I feel like there is social pressure to “have fun”, in other words, binge drink for my birthday every year especially in a few days for my 21st but I really don’t see how that is fun or even entertaining at the moment. I’ve actually lost a friend to a drunk driver, and this still affects me all the time. The best thing I ever got was my life and I was even fortunate enough not to lose it after all these years. I really don’t feel like recklessly hurting myself just to entertain my friends on MY day. It just doesn’t make sense.

I don’t even want any presents. For my birthday this year all I really want to do is wake up early at the crack of dawn, go for a jog, grab pizza on Pizza Tuesday with my friends, and maybe cook a little. Honestly, I don’t think I sound like an old boring fart at all. I think people who think I have to be morbidly drunk to enjoy life need to get a hobby.