forget valentine's day ... this is way more depressing
2006-07-22 | 2:21 p.m.

Something occurred to me last night. I'm three weeks away from my 25th birthday.

And this year, for the first time in my life, a part of me is really dreading said birthday.

No, stop, don't jump to the obvious conclusion. It's not because I feel old. The words "quarter century" don't scare me. Sure, I can't honestly claim to be anything but an adult now, but I came to terms with that quite a while ago.

The reason I'm hung up on my birthday this year is something else entirely.

Simply, it is this: All of my closest friends, the ones I would normally expect to go out and do something with on a special occasion like a birthday, are either in (or near) Toronto, or in Ottawa.

Sure, I have friends from school, but no one (at least, no one nearby at the moment) I feel close enough to to say, hey, let's go out for my birthday.

Alone on a Friday night is lousy enough. Alone on a Friday night that also happens to be my 25th birthday is quite possibly the most depressing prospect I've faced in a very long time.

Damn. All past evidence to the contrary, I really believed I'd have found a niche for myself here by now.

I need a plan. I'm going up to my aunt's cottage next weekend. Maybe I'll attempt to drop some hints to the cousins that I could really use a rescue. Maybe I'll start pestering that friend of mine who lives out in the west island and hates coming downtown at night. Maybe that other friend of mine who lives nearby will have finished the abstract for his thesis by then and will be willing to go out for drinks, never mind that we haven't spoken in over a month.

Crap. I hate being one of those people who takes a long time to settle in. I hate being one of those people who makes friends slowly.

Bah!

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