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Essay Sample on my Birthday
A Birthday is a day on which a person commemorates the day he/she was born. It is a day which is usually filled with celebrations and gift giving. Birthdays are celebrated since your birth marked the beginning of your and thus celebrating them is a form of thanks for the gift of life. In my early childhood years, birthdays were the most important event in my life as I usually had a big cake with so many candles on top for me to cut in front of my friends and family. I could feel their love and affection, Birthdays offer the chance for one to sit down and reflect on the journey of their being from the moment they were born up to now. Personally, I celebrate my birthday to acknowledge my existence thereby reflecting on where I have come from, where I am and where I intend to be.
I was born on the ninth month of the year, September eighth, 1995 in a government health facility in Nairobi Kenya. I usually plan to have a small birthday party that will be attended by close friends and relatives but this one recently turned out to be different. First and foremost, covid 19 struck and as a result, the government had to put measures in place to curb the spread of the deadly virus that has killed millions worldwide. Amongst the measures that were undertaken by the government included a ban on social gatherings hence rendering my usual get-together with friends and relatives null and void.
As a result, I became clueless and resigned to fate about how my birthday would turn out to be. I just woke up like any other day and did my errands here and there as is the norm when at around quarter past two in the afternoon I received a phone from one of my childhood friends who actually remembered that it was my birthday. I was quite surprised, to be honest, but I also appreciated the kind gesture that accompanied the call. Fenwick, as was his name, came up with the idea of visiting Nairobi National Park. At first, I found the idea quite absurd as that was not the way I intended to spend my birthday, well at least not even in my wildest dreams but yet here I was with a friend who had known me for over twenty-plus years bringing on the table the idea of going to spend time with wild animals.
Crazy as it sounded, I reminded myself that there’s always a first time for everything and thus decided to throw caution to the wind with regard to covid 19 protocols put in place by reminding myself that ‘You Only Live Once’. I, therefore, took the shortest time possible to prepare myself for what would eventually turn out to be the day I’ll never forget. I took a cab to the town where my friend was patiently waiting and after our customized way of greeting each other, he quickly hopped in the rubber met the road and off we were to the famous Nairobi national park, the only city with a park within it. Our cab driver navigated his way through the busy roads of Nairobi with so much experience that one would mistake him for a former Dakar rally champion.
As we arrived at the park, we found tourists from the world over enjoying the sight of the big five i.e. Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant, and Buffalo. We quickly registered ourselves as guests and we were issued with a visitors’ tag as we embarked on the agenda that had been brought there. We would walk, take pictures that capture the moments, and have hearty laughter’s with my friend who was determined to see me put a smile on my face. I sincerely appreciated the effort he made, that was a true sign of genuine friendship and I promised myself to do the same for him though in a different context and style. Much as I was enjoying every bit of the moment, time was quickly moving and it was getting dark. We did what was left for us to do including feeding giraffes and other wild animals under the strict supervision of the wardens. Eventually, the time came for us to leave but before we left we went to a small cafeteria within the park to enjoy some refreshments, and while at it we unknowingly forgot to pick up back our face masks which had become compulsory to wear at all times as a result of the virus.
A good day that we had had was taking a new twist for the worse when after we had just stepped out of the park we were approached by two police officers who introduced themselves and thereafter demanded so sort of identification from us which we produced then after all the foreplay, they dropped the bombshell asking us where our masks were. We were left speechless; we could not believe our eyes, personally, I was yet to come to terms with what was actually happening more so given that it was my birthday.-Given the nature of cops in Kenya, they would neither listen to this nor that, all they cared about was to have their hands greased and while we were actually contemplating the idea of doing that, our pockets would allow us to go beyond wishing so we ultimately had to face the music.
We were booked in and spent the night in the cell which was stone cold. I could not believe what I was going through but in the midst of my thoughts a mosquito bite brought me back to reality, Time went by, and eventually, we were released though with a very bitter memory . Perhaps will is best summarized as the day I will never forget.
