Describe a birthday celebration that you enjoyed

I'd like to talk about my twenty-fifth birthday last year, which was probably the best birthday I've ever had. I'm not normally someone who likes a big fuss, so I told my friends that I'd just like a quiet dinner. What I didn't know was that my sister had planned something much bigger.

She told me we were going to a small restaurant near the river, which is one of my favourite places. When I walked in, I found about fifteen people waiting in the back room, including friends from university and even a couple of colleagues. The room was decorated with balloons and photos from different stages of my life, and there was a huge chocolate cake with my name on it.

We ate, chatted and played a quiz game that my sister had prepared about my life, with questions like what was my first job or which embarrassing song I used to sing. People shouted answers and laughed a lot. Later, my friends gave me a photo album that they'd put together, with messages from everyone. I'll admit I got a bit teary.

I enjoyed it so much because it felt personal. It didn't cost much, but people had taken the time to do something thoughtful for me. I also hadn't seen some of those friends for months, so it was nice to have everyone together in one place. I went home that night feeling very lucky, and I still look through that album when I'm having a bad day.