Because of my looks, or maybe because of how I often label myself as a \u201clone wolf,\u201d a common misconception<\/u> people have of me is that I don\u2019t really have strong family bonds, or that I don\u2019t care for traditions. The latter is true at times, but the former couldn\u2019t be further from the truth<\/u>. I\u2019m very family-oriented, and if I ever get married, I have no doubt in my heart that I\u2019d be a family man.<\/p>\n
And so, I have a confession to make: I made my birthday dinner into a family tradition.<\/p>\n
Up until I was 26 and moved to Japan, I had always had my birthday dinner with my family on my actual birthday. If my birthday landed on a weekend, I would often spend most of the day with friends or the person I was dating. But, after that, I would always meet up with my family for a nice dinner at a restaurant. <\/p>\n
Some people might find it strange that an adult in their twenties would go out of their way<\/u> to do that when they could be partying with friends or a romantic partner. After all, it\u2019s your birthday! Certainly, I agree with the fact that our birthdays are important, because if it hadn\u2019t happened, we wouldn\u2019t be alive. But our birthdays aren\u2019t really only about us, are they?<\/p>\n
For me, it\u2019s important to spend my birthday with my family because it was the day my mother brought me into to this world after going through not only 24 hours of pain and sweat, but a whole ordea<\/u>l with complications even after my birth. My mother isn\u2019t the type to constantly remind me, and honestly, it was most definitely not my fault, but it\u2019s the undeniable truth that all the pain she had to through was because she had me.<\/p>\n
On my birthday, I\u2019m grateful to be alive. At the same time, I\u2019m so grateful to my mother for not only giving birth to me, but also for raising me, feeding me, clothing me, caring for me, and most of all, loving me unconditionally. I\u2019m so grateful she didn\u2019t throw me out the window or leave me on the street when I was being a nasty little brat. Of course, I\u2019m also grateful to my father for working hard to provide for the family all these years.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve promised myself that I\u2019d celebrate myself and my parents on my birthday, and that has become a tradition in my family. It\u2019s not something I can do now that we\u2019re an entire Pacific Ocean apart, but we still video chat on my birthday to make sure we feel connected. I also make sure to call them at midnight every year, no matter if I\u2019m at my friends\u2019 house partying away, or if I\u2019m in Japan.<\/p>\n
My family also has some interesting traditions, like my mom having \u201ca day off\u201d every week. This means my family eats out at least once a week, so that she doesn\u2019t have to cook. I think until I was in middle school, that day would coincide<\/u> with \u201cfamily day,\u201d which is a day my mom made my dad promise to stay with us instead of hanging out with his friends. My family would go out for brunch, then head to a nearby park to play, and go home to watch a rental movie or sing karaoke. Every two weeks or so, we\u2019d release our pet budgies in the bathroom and let them fly around and bathe in the water. In retrospect<\/u>, while it was routine, it really gave my brother and I the chance to bond with my dad because he used to have so many business trips and we would barely see him during the week. Those were some of the best memories I have of my childhood.<\/p>\n
All in all, family traditions sometimes may appear mundane, and we may not appreciate them when we are kids. But they give us the time to bond and share some good times with our loved ones. If I ever have my own family, I\u2019d like to pick and choose traditions I liked, and pass them on to future generations.<\/p>\n
Loki<\/p>\n
<\/br>
\nVocabulary<\/b><\/p>\n
misconception (n) ? an idea that is wrong because it has been based on a failure to understand a situation
\ncouldn\u2019t be further from the truth (phr.) ? completely false
\ngo out of one\u2019s way (phr.) ? make a special effort to do something, especially for someone else
\nordeal (n) ? a very unpleasant and prolonged experience
\ncoincide (v) ? to occur at the same time
\nin retrospect (phr.) ? thinking now about something in the pa \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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