Recently a birthday party was given for me and made me feel so loved. It gave me a new perspective on celebrating life which the Mexicans love to do. When it is a birthday, they are up at the crack of dawn and singing a traditional song to the birthday boy or girl in an effort to do the most they can to make the day special because the reality is that we cannot have individual parties for each child.
When I worked in the kitchen, we would often rummage through donations to come up with some snacks and then I would buy soda and treats so the girls could have a party in the dorm room for the birthday girl. The previous supervisors of the boys used to have a special meal once a month for everyone who had a birthday in that month.
This week it was brought to my attention that it was Leonel's birthday. When I saw him, I mentioned to him in excitement that it was going to be his birthday and he didn't even know. It literally broke my heart and then I realized that as he approaches age 7 that he had never had a birthday party that honored him. Since there are only 6 little boys, I knew we could pull it off to afford an individual birthday party.
As the plans came together I got very excited about the surprise. The kids knew we were going to have a fire and roast marshmallows but didn't know the reason why. When they got there, we grilled hamburgers and then brought out the piñata and explained to Leonel that the party was to celebrate his birthday. He was humbled at first not knowing what it really meant. However as the events unfolded and he got to go 1st in swinging at the piñata and then had a cake with a candle to blow out and even a gift, the excitement grew. We rounded off the evening by roasting marshmallows and then the boys were cleaned up and tucked into bed to watch a movie.
So the other boys didn't feel completely left out, Freddy and Ira pitched in to have a bon fire, hot dog and corn roast. The little ones slept as they all hung out until after midnight. Ira and I have been discussing ideas on how we can possibly do something once a month to honor the birthdays but we are pretty sure we are now obligated to have a party for the 5 remaining younger ones when the time comes. I can hardly wait!!
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