Wake Me Up When September Ends

Maybe a month ago the title would’ve been “Wake Me Up When September Arrives.”

For as long as I can remember, I have thrived in September. For starters, I’m a September baby. So as a young kid, September meant my birthday! It meant two parties! It meant presents, birthday cake, all my family and friends gathered together to celebrate me!

The weather during an Indiana September is never ever everrrr consistent. At the beginning, you have fake fall transition, then full-on summer throughout the next week, and then another coolish week, and usually a final transition. But those periods are free to switch up just to keep us Hoosiers on our toes and our hands on the jacket hooks. I remember hoping and praying that the 19th brought hot sun and a warm breeze so that I could play outside without a jacket for my birthday. Not that the weather stopped me. I can picture myself outside my old house, spinning my bicycle tires in a big puddle in my driveway so that the water would splash me. “Look at you!” my dad exclaimed. “You’re filthy! And in a skirt!” I think my dad was a little annoyed when he saw I was covered in dirty water and grass. As the sun went down, my grandma started to walk home. I felt the chill of dusk as I anxiously ran inside and asked my dad if I could go with her. The birthday girl left her own party.

As I moved on to junior high and high school, September started to mean something else for me. Our homecoming was almost always in September or early October. Homecoming was my favorite time of year while I was in school! We had dress up weeks, and the weather was still warm for the football games. Volleyball was just getting started, my birthday would come within the month, and school wasn’t old to me yet. I was always sad to see September wane into October.

~Flash forward~

In only my second month of college, I’ve hit some bumps along the way. The most recent, more akin to Mt. Everest, has me stuck, wheels spinning. I’m lost, confused, and heartbroken. I found myself thinking today “God, I wish the month would just be over already!” Me, a September girl, praying that the month flies by so that I don’t have to go through this so agonizingly. How sad that what used to be one of the times of year that I anxiously looked forward to has been cleansed of its symbolism. Instead, it reminds me of my past season of life ending once and for all. I no longer have the last piece to tie me back to my high school life. Which in a way is refreshing.

bUt MaCk, YoU’rE bIrThDaY iS iN sEpTeMbEr! Yes I know. I’ve always made a huge deal about my birthday, declaring to my family and friends that it’s my birth month or birth week (yeah, one of THOSE people, in a joking manner of course). Last year, my birthday was amazing! My grandma on my mom’s side made me a red velvet cheesecake (SO GOOD, Doris is the best cook tbh), my cousins brought salsa and assorted dips that slapped, and I got to chill with my loved ones. Then, my stepmom threw me a surprise birthday party with a ton of my good friends 😥 But this year, things are a little different. Rather than me standing on top of the world, chewing up and spitting out obstacles in my path, the world is on top of me like an elephant squashing a chihuahua. Though I’ll likely be pushing through September similar to how one looks when trying to walk through knee-high water, the end of the month will come and I will be better. Then, the next month will arrive and go and I’ll be better yet. Time will tell.

Needless to say, 11 days into September and I’m looking for a new favorite month. Definitely not November, not J, F, mayyybe December? IDK October’s lookin’ pretty good over there with all its pumpkin pie and spooky season. But maybe not. Maybe I need to stay away from the last 4 months of the year. Maybe I’ll opt for one with the least amount of personal correlations. I’ll learn to love a new month for now. Leaving my own party once again.

ALL MY LUV

MACK

*Yeah I know it’s a Green Day song, get off my back*