Breathe
By Marilú Acosta
In my elementary school birthdays there was no dilemma of being inclusive and inviting the whole class or discarding and celebrating only with a select group of close friends. There were no invitations to think about, no transportation logistics, no pick-up times for my classmates, no negotiating "a little more time" with anyone. My celebrations were short, but forceful: my mother agreed with the teacher on duty, arrived with cake and piñata at recess time, and the attendees were included or left out, depending on whether or not they had attended classes. The duration depended on the activities and the teacher's disposition: either they only gave us 25 minutes of recess or they donated part of the study time to the celebration. If my birthday fell on a weekend, it was organized the day before or the day after. Maybe this is why I was so curious about summer birthdays. How do they celebrate? Who do they invite? Is it just family? Do they celebrate by traveling? In the summer I didn't sing mañanitas to anyone. Well, I don't sing the mañanitas, I always gesture them silently, I find it more interesting to listen to the improvised chorus than to keep listening to my own voice.
