Jayden's Journal: A Sept. 11 birthday

By Jayden Hewitt
Staff Writer

Sept. 11 is known for two things, at least to me. Most notably, the fall of the Twin Towers in 2001. The other thing … well, that happens to be my birthday.

I was celebrating my first birthday when the chaos ensued, and the United States came to a halt. I was entirely unaware of anything at all, let alone an event that would change the United States, and the world forever.

Everyone was in shock, my family included. While I was probably wondering why I couldn’t have more cake, people were suddenly overcome with fear and uncertainty.

From that day on, my birthday would always be associated with the attacks on 9/11.

It will always be an interesting conversation starter, and a stain on a day that’s supposed to be special to me for different reasons.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve found out how to balance my excitement that I lived another year, with sadness for those who tragically lost family members that day, as well as memories of the heroes who helped save many more lives.

To me, my birthday marks the end of summer, too. Soon, it will be October, and then it will be cold and miserable until next May.

Every year I get older, there is less and less excitement around my birthday, but I find myself enjoying what I have more and more.

This year was a rather chill year, but I enjoyed it. On Saturday, I was able to see family, and enjoy some delicious gelato with my girlfriend for our anniversary at “Horrocks.” When I say delicious, I mean it, go try some if you already haven’t.

I can’t forget the football though. Saturday among other things, was a huge day in college football.

I was able to watch my favorite team, the Miami Hurricanes, come out with an unimpressive win, but a win nonetheless.

Unfortunately, Sunday included a lot of rain, and that kept me indoors most of the day.

Typically, I would want to go enjoy a baseball game, or visit a zoo for my birthday, weather permitting.

This year, I played my new video game “NBA 2K23,” and had a great dinner with my girlfriend. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants, “Olive Garden,” in Okemos.

I had the Asiago Tortelloni Alfredo, which I highly recommend, a complimentary dessert thanks to my birthday, and of course Olive Garden’s famous breadsticks.

Overall, I had a great birthday, I spent it with great people and had a lot of good food – cake too, of course.