Birthday Boxes Are The Best

Every year that I've lived away from home, my mom has sent me a birthday package filled with a few gifts and something she baked back at home (usually cookies, banana bread, or the personal favorite...lemon-poppyseed cake).  I'm now 24 years old and loving the fact that I still get a birthday package from home once a year.  It's not about asking for certain things and hoping I get them as gifts.  I hardly ask for anything in particular anymore or know what to ask for in the first place.  What I love about my birthday box is that when I open it and see gifts that were unmistakably wrapped by my mom and catch the smell of sweet, tangy lemon-sugar glaze, I feel like I'm home celebrating with my family.  For the time that I take everything out of the birthday box, lay it out before me, and meticulously go through all of the contents while unwrapping with care, I know that the only thing missing from the complete birthday experience is them.  Nothing beats a birthday box if I can't be at home.

And nobody wraps a gift quite like my mom does.