go shawty, it's yo' birthday, we gon' party like it's yo' birthday

twenty-six years ago, at exactly this time (5:25pm hawaii time), there was a woman laying [screaming] in a hospital bed, in a little town called hilo on the eastern coast of the big island of hawaii.  she was young and pretty, and was about to bring into this world another daughter for herself and her husband, and a sister for her 3 year old.  she pushed.  and pushed.  and pushed.

and then out i popped with a head full dark hair and a scream that could wake the dead.

because of that hair (which was sticking straight up in an abnormally long mohawk), the nurses at the hospital nicknamed me Mrs. T.  and i like to think that it was because of that scream i was given my name: kahea (the call/voice).

it's my birthday today, and i'm turning 26.

do you remember when you were a kid and your mom used to come to school on your birthday with homemade cupcakes?  do you remember how great that was?  birthdays when you're little seem to dominate your entire world. you wait all year for that day to come and when it finally does, it's amazing.  presents.  cake.  balloons.  all good things.  and the best part of all?  you're an entire year older.  which, now that i'm over 18, doesn't seem like such an awesome thing after all.  time just goes by so quickly, and no matter how much you tell a child to appreciate being young, they never really know how.

i was having a conversation late last night with M. about being a year older and what that means.  it's sort of shocking to realize how drastically we all change between the ages of 18-26 (an arbitrary range that we just pulled out of thin air).  but that's really when we begin to discover who we are, you know?  and i know that who i think i am today is going to change even more in another 8 years, but i can't ignore the fact that i've grown up a tremendous amount, and i don't just mean my age.

(yes, i know i do this a lot, but...) i've gone away to school (again).  i've left the comfortable bubble that is hawaii and roamed [at least part of] the world.  i've gone to college and fallen in love.  i've had a quarter life crises, and have been forced to reevaluate my entire life.  my beliefs have been challenged and pushed.  my self-perception has been irrevocably altered.  i've learned the value of both pride and humility, and have tested my limits till the breaking point.  i've had experiences that forever changed who i am and have learned that anything is possible if you have people who love you in your life.

so on this day when some strange tradition dictates that i should be the one to receive gifts, i want to send out a thank you to all the people in my life.  whether you were present on the day i was born, or have only started reading my blog 5 minutes ago, thank you for being here/there/where ever you are.  i feel blessed to have you all in my life.

now i'm going to go and finish up work, buy my love some flowers (because he's turning 27 today too!), head home, and spend a quiet evening hanging out with him and our dog.  happy birthday, march 11 babies!