Life is unpredictable. Nobody knows what the future holds. You may plan and prepare all you want, but life has a habit of taking unexpected turns. While everyone is different, it is usually better to err on the side of being more sensitive after a loss. It might be tough to know how to greet a bereaved person when it is also one’s birthday. Read the story to know what happened and what would you have done in such a situation.
Source: Reddit
My (25F) nephew (4M) passed away 1 year ago because of cancer. It was right on my birthday and there was no celebration, there was nothing, because everyone was devastated.
My sister Denise is still grieving, she’s in therapy and making some progress, but it’s been slow. My family and I try to be as supportive as possible.
Birthdays in my family are very important, we throw huge parties, I believe and have been taught that birthdays are important and should be cherished.
Yesterday was my birthday. Obviously I felt bad about the anniversary of my nephew’s death, but I was also a little down about not being able to celebrate like I used to and my girlfriend knew that.
In the morning, I went to Denise’s house, stayed by her side until almost lunch time, when my mother would stay with her (we didn’t want to leave her alone, but no one could stay all day).
I went to work and at night, my girlfriend made a surprise at home with a candlelight dinner and a small cake. Something very intimate and for both of us, since my family was in a bad way.
I didn’t post on social media, but my girlfriend posted a picture of us holding hands and the dinner she made with “Happy Bday, Love”. My mom and Denise follow her on Instagram.
I woke up the next day to hundreds of texts from my mom and Denise, asking if I was celebrating even though it was such a sad day and how heartless I was to celebrate knowing my sister was in such a bad way. Even though I said it was a surprise, they called me cold, heartless and insensitive to the pain of others, saying I should have refused to celebrate.
I was just glad I celebrated, because it’s something important to me and I didn’t even realize when my girlfriend posted this photo on insta.
Btw, in case you were wondering, none of them remembered it was my birthday. Am I A Jerk?
Here are a few comments on the story where it was originally posted:
