A lot of things change when you go away to college. You gain more freedom, make new friends and develop your own beliefs. A lot of happiness comes with all these new things in your life. You start adulting hardcore. But after your long day of adulting you realize all the things your missing back home. It may be your pets acting funny, or your younger siblings growing up, or your mom's cooking. For me, it's my Dad's birthday.

Birthday's aren't a huge deal to my family but we still take the time to celebrate it and make the day all about them. We decorate the house in birthday banners and balloons, let them pick where we eat for dinner and give them things that they want but wouldn't get for themselves. It's a day where we show our love to them and appreciate all they do for us. And this time I can't be there for it.

At first I didn’t think missing my dad’s birthday would be a huge deal. I planned it all out, send him his gift, mail him a letter, call him to sing happy birthday, and skype him in the evening for our “birthday dinner”. But as the day approached I realized that it’s just not the same. I didn’t have the joy of setting up the decorations and seeing his face when he comes home to a festive house. I didn’t get to annoy him by telling the waiter or waitress it was his birthday and causing a huge scene in the restaurant. I couldn’t sing happy birthday at the top of my lungs and embarrass him with my horrible vocals. I couldn’t randomly shout, “it’s his birthday!” There was so many simple pleasures of celebrating a birthday stripped from me simply by not being there.

I use birthdays as a reflection of the past year and how we've grown as a family or how that one person has changed my life. I look back on all the crazy pictures we have from the last year and reflect on all the amazing memories. Times like these are the times where I treasure his horrendous dad jokes, or his love for sports (specifically Cleveland sports), his appreciation for music and his refusal to ask for help when finding something in a store.

I reminisce about all the goofy things that we do together like skip in the parking lot while going into a store or restaurant, blowing up a giant pool floaty for a baby pool and using all the different snapchat filters. Or even the more serious things like wishing me good luck on tests, and encouraging me when I do bad. Giving me advice and helping me destress during these crazy college times. Putting up with my silly “guess who this artist is” or listening me talk about girly things during the entire car ride. My Dad and I share a special bond, a bond that cannot be broken.

Shoutout to the best Dad in the world. Happy Birthday, I love you!