3 Things Thursday – It’s My Birthday

Yes, today is my birthday. A little while back, when I realized that 3 Things Thursday was going to fall on April 2, my actual birthday, I started thinking about how I would post about that. A few ideas came and went and then I decided that this would be a fun way to celebrate with all of you, a Throw Back Thursday look at my birthday’s growing up.

Birthday collage

So I went over to my parents house and got out all of the family albums and then dug around for a few to share with you. I was hoping for beginning, school age and university to share and these were the best I found.

3 Things Thursday Badge

1. First Birthday
So this is me with my mom on my first birthday. The whole story around this picture is, I was the first grandchild on my moms side of the family. So for my first birthday, my mom took me back to the motherland, Nairobi Keyna, to celebrate. My parents had just gotten married and come to Canada three years earlier so I’m sure it must have been nice for my mom to visit her parents and other family. As for me, I’ve never been back but it is on my bucket list for future travels. 

Salma 1st birthday

 

2. Eighth (?) Birthday
I’m not sure exactly what birthday this is but I’m thinking it might be seventh or eighth since my brother looks about two years old. So yes, I was pretty young when I got glasses. It was the start of a rough time in my life,  being a minority in my school, being very shy and add in the way that I looked and it was enough for kids to be mean to me. I won’t delve into that in detail as I’ve written a post about that before.

Now when I look at the photo, I don’t remember that bad, I just see a couple of cute little kids enjoying a birthday party at McDonalds, which was a favourite party destination back in the day, especially the caboose!

IMG_0684

 

3. Twenty-first birthday
And this was my 21st birthday. When I look at the picture, I seem happy and from what I remember, I was 🙂 It was a fun birthday party with lots of friends and food. Of course between then and now, a lot has happened including angst, drama, joy, you name it and I’m sure I experienced it as any 20 something would. 

Salma 21 birthday

Tonight I’ll be celebrating my 39th birthday with some family and ice cream cake. (I debated with myself for a long time if I would actually tell you guys how old I was and in the end I thought, why does it even matter what my age is, right?)  I can’t believe next year I will have been around for 40 years! Then at night after putting my kids to bed, I’ll be heading to the the airport with my brother and we will be meeting my sister for my first trip ever to New York! Pretty exciting times and I will definitely be reporting back to you as to how the trip was.

Now it’s your turn to share.  If you want to participate in our #3ThingsThursday link up, here’s what you need to do. Write a blog post about your three things Then grab the badge from the top of my post. Make sure to link back to either myself, Salma at The Write BalanceRaj at Pink Chai Living or Nisha at Love Laugh Mirch. Then click on the linky below to add your post. It’s that easy. Can’t wait to read about your three things.

Happy Thursday :)

21 thoughts on “3 Things Thursday – It’s My Birthday

  1. Happy Birthday! And I hope you have fun in NY. NYC is awesome! The subway was intimidating to me but it was super easy to get the hang of and the food…omg it’s the best part!

      1. Happy Birthday Salma! I too have been wearing glasses since a little girl. I am exactly 20 years older than you are and now I alternate between glasses and contact lenses which I have been wearing for years. Enjoy your trip to New York, that’s my home town.

  2. Happy Birthday!! Sounds like you’ve go quite the party planned. NYC can be a blast — so much to do and see for just about every mood you might feel. I’m sure that you’ve planned it out way in advance; you’re so organized like that! Looking forward to seeing your trip as reported in your blog! Have fun!

  3. Great birthday idea. I need to get so many more pictures into a digital format so I can participate in things like this.

    My 40th birthday was great. Lots of great friends and family for my zombie themed party. For 41 my girlfriends and I went to a wine tasting and chocolate event and had some epic fun. 42 was just 2 months ago and it was nice and chill with just my family. Next year it’s already been decided to go back to the wine and chocolate festival again lol

    1. Sounds like you had a fun last few birthdays Val. And these picture are not digital, I just opened the albums and took pics with my iPhone camera 🙂

  4. Happy Belated Birthday Salma! My sister’s birthday was one day before yours. Aries, you got to love them. I also came to Canada (Ottawa) when I was 3 from Guyana and had similar experiences like you did being on of the (2) only brown guys in my school. Anyway, high school was a blast! Thanks for sharing the stories.

  5. Happy happy birthday, Salma!! Love this post – thank you for sharing!

    I was that awkward 3rd grader with glasses too. When I learned I had to get glasses, I think I cried for 3 days straight. Dramatic much! And have so much fun in NYC! If you get a chance, eat at Hangawi. One of my top 10 meals…ever!

  6. A Happy Birthday to you, Salma. I love these photographs. It’s easy to tell that you, your daughter, and your mother are related. It’s a beautiful look at three generations. Here’s to many, many more happy and healthy years for you, my friend.

  7. Happy birthday! Loved checking out these old pics of you. Hope you’re enjoying your day, however you end up spending it. 🙂

  8. Happy Birthday Salma!! 🙂
    I can totally relate to being the only minority and going through the awkward times in my life. I had the worse haircut.. my mom called it the “boy cut” when I first moved here and I hated it cause I looked just little a little boy!
    Hope you have a wonderful birthday! 🙂

  9. Happy birthday, Salma! You really deserve to have an amazing vacation with your siblings! And I totally had the same pair of pink glasses when I was 8. Loved all your pictures, especially your first birthday.

  10. And a happy birthday to YOU! As you noticed on my blog, I also just celebrated my birthday recently, but I’m 57 instead of a young 39!

    Thanks for sharing your post and the nice pictures; it’s always fun to reflect on memories, especially good ones.

  11. Happy Birthday!! Hope you have fun in NY-a trip you will always remember, especially with your siblings! Enjoy! And eat up-delicious food.

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