Friends
and family need attention
Julie
Guevara
No Me Calles
I
try not to make this some sort of preaching
post, but being that it is an opinion column,
it's virtually impossible to give your opinion
without preaching. So here it goes -- bare
with me. You just might get something out
of it.
This
weekend I learned a valuable lesson. And
like most lessons we learn in life, I learned
in the hard way. It's safe to say that everyone
looks forward to turning 21. Well, this
was me last weekend. I spent the whole day
trying to come up with ideas on what to
do and finally decided, the day before,
that I wanted to go to the Saddle Ranch
at Universal City Walk. I called everyone
I possibly could, even those I hadn't seen
in months. Many said they would go or at
least try to, given the short notice.
My
boyfriend held a pre-celebration for me
that was a blast and I expected the same
for the actual big day. The morning of my
birthday, having had about three hours of
sleep, my family took me out to breakfast.
It was nice to spend time with my family
although I have to admit that I was really
looking forward to the Saddle Ranch. I had
gone to the mall to shop for the big night.
Then I went home where more of my family
members came to visit. They stayed until
about eight and kept asking what my plans
were for the night. I told them that my
friends said that we'd meet up to go out,
but I still hadn't heard from anyone. Nine
o'clock rolled around and my cell phone
still hadn't rung.
"Que
pasa?" I thought to myself. What had
happened to everyone? I panicked and started
calling them, but no one answered. My boyfriend
had to work and the plan was that he would
meet my friends and I, once he was out.
I didn't know what to do. My family felt
really bad and it hurt them to see me that
way, but as much as they wanted to take
me out, they knew hanging with them on my
21st was probably not something I wanted
to do. So I thought of just going to sleep,
but quite honestly, I was too sad to close
my eyes. I called my boyfriend crying and
he assured me that everything would be fine
and if all else failed call him and I would
have a great time. I made my way to City
Walk thinking my phone would ring on the
way there. "Nada." Nothing.
So
where is the point of this story? It is
not to make people feel sorry for me in
any way. Trust me, it's quite an embarrassing
encounter to be sharing. The point is I
know why everyone who said they would be
there, wasn't. Lately, I have become so
self-indulged, trying to maintain my serving
job, my managing editor position with Dig
Magazine on campus, the On-line Forty-Niner
and an internship, that I had made plans
with other people and never followed through
because I was too busy. To make the concept
simple, do what you say you're going to
do and make time for people or else you'll
be all alone when it matters most. And always
take care of your family because above everyone
else, they are there for you.
Julie
Guevara is a communications major at Cal
State Long Beach and can be reached at MissJewels212@aol.com.
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