We Didn’t Need a Ballroom to Feel the Magic of Her 18th

Birthdays are always the greatest celebration for me, fancy or not. I have been to many kinds of celebrations, may it be a milestone, a feast for saints, Christmas, and even the iconic Valentine's Day. Each has its own reason and purpose for celebrating, which comes to be the main reason why people attend them. Although I like to attend them, birthday celebration has a special place in my heart and soul. Imagine, an innocent baby is born that day, and looking at that baby is a grown individual now who has braved and challenged life silently. I mean, we are in a continuous journey, and every year a birth date comes, it recognizes a person's existence and success in life. There is always glory in birthdays; it is a milestone and a hope for another year, which I like to think the most.

So last August, we celebrated my closest cousin's 18th birthday in Mandaue, Cebu, where her family lives. She is the closest to me among my cousins who are also in their teenage years. We live in northern Cebu, so it is quite far from the city, but when my mother learned that her favorite niece would celebrate her birthday, we decided to board a bus and leave our hometown for a while. No further ado, no dilly-dallies, quickly we headed to the city for my cousin's birthday.

Now, her 18th birthday was not a fancy one—no venue, no elegant designs, no program, and no photoshoots. She wanted it to be simple, to celebrate it with her family only, including us. So the first thing we did in the morning was visit the Basilica to dedicate her birthday to the Lord and let the Almighty honor her birth. We do not belong to the same religion, as I am a member of Iglesia Ni Cristo, but I accompanied them to the Basilica since I am not good with city directions still. And there is nothing wrong anyway with entering the Basilica. We gave time for my cousin to pray and offer her words, showing her faith and dedication to God's words.

After that, we roamed around the Basilica, which happened to be not so crowded that time, and it made some good space for us. My cousin shared that they always visit here almost every Sunday, so the Basilica is quite familiar to her already. We took photos together to be kept in our memory bin, and she had some shots with her two siblings. The architecture of the Basilica is intricate and well-detailed, which made it popular and attracted more visitors of faith. Even before I visited, I already knew the structure of the place because there were posts about this popular church showcasing the beauty of the old architecture. My cousin said the interior is also beautiful, but we were not able to go inside because we were running out of time.

We left the Basilica after an hour to have our lunch at the nearest Jollibee branch. We just walked because it was within walking distance according to my uncle, which was true but a little bit farther than I expected. I was confused why one of my cousins separated from us during the walk, only to discover she bought a rose for the birthday celebrant, and I took photos of them. The dress of my cousin who gave the rose complemented the roses, and looking back at this photo reminds me of the closeness the whole cousin clan has.

Minutes later, we were already looking at the Jollibee orders we had asked from our uncle who came from Canada. He got home just for the birthday celebration. So family-oriented, isn’t it? Don’t worry, he planned it for a long time so his work was not affected.

We began eating when all orders were served. I got 1 pc of Jollibee chicken spicy with rice, a Coke float, a burger, and a Jollibee sundae. I was really hungry from walking, and the daylight was scorching—it made me want to drink a very cold Coke float. Everyone enjoyed eating their food while we had some chit-chats about the birthday girl and her wishes for this whole new year in life. She is a quiet person who rarely speaks. So when we asked her about her wishes and plans, she was a bit shy, but Maria (her name) talks a lot when we are only the ones talking. Teens have their secret language. We enjoyed our conversation as much as the food, and no trace was left on our plates. Jollibee is always our go-to fast food restaurant because joy is the number one priority here.

We headed to SM Cebu for some strolls and buying of things we needed for the birthday design. As far as I can remember, we headed first to a Dunkin’ Donuts stall to buy a few boxes, and I found myself eating a Bavarian one. We also visited the arcade zone and played for a while. My cousins got a lot of tickets, saying that they are veterans there and have already mastered the techniques of playing almost every machine. Then our last stop was window shopping to buy some clothes, which are readily available at SM, stretching across floors and sides.

By night, we serenaded Maria in her bedroom with a birthday cake and sang her a happy birthday song together with my other cousins. It’s just that the whole cousin group was not complete because some were in the province, busy with their academics, and I just had an absence letter for my dean. Maria was happy to see the cake and blew it after making her wishes. I could see in her eyes how glad she was on this birthday and how contented she must be because of her family.

When she got outside her room, this table full of vibrant birthday designs greeted her together with the visitors. She had two birthday cakes with the number 18 on them, and this number is not just a usual birthday number because it indicates a person’s starting journey as an adult. Aside from cakes, we cooked a lot of Filipino-coded dishes such as spaghetti, pancit, the iconic lumpia, and others with meat or chicken as the main highlight. We also had maja blanca and salad, complete with sweets and cold to wrap up our gustatory experience on Maria’s birthday.

We took a photo of Maria wearing her red, beautiful dress while carrying the rose she was gifted earlier. You can see in her smile how humble, contented, and happy she was looking at the food, the visitors, the music, and the whole house filled with joy and celebration for the day she was born. My cousin is very beautiful wearing that red dress, and if you ever have the impression of her being gentle and kind, you are right. She is not just kind in appearance but also in attitude.

While waiting for the visitors to come complete, we asked her to change her dress quickly for another photo-taking. This time, she was wearing yellow—elegant, vibrant, and beautiful in her age. She asked us to take photos with her family and her siblings. They looked cute together, and knowing that they were complete for sure made my cousin very grateful on her birthday.

Then we took a photo with her before the food feast.

A while later, I saw the visitors start to get their plates filled with food according to their likings. They were laughing and teasing each other’s plate contents because some had too much food. Some visitors were shy, so I persuaded them to get their food already and not to be shy because they were very welcome, and we were also happy to have them at this celebration. Anyway, the visitors were just close people of my cousins, and the rest belonged to our clan. They ate happily and celebrated the birthday with their heart’s content, and everything felt surreal to watch. Everyone was in a happy moment while my cousin was in joy knowing a lot of people were on her back and quietly supporting her.

It was a simple birthday yet full of meaning and love. That night reminded me that celebrations do not need to be grand to be memorable; they just need the right people, genuine smiles, and the warmth of being together.