Written by Part of the “While I Was Away” series.
A few years ago, I accidentally started a little tradition.
Every birthday, I make myself something new to wear.
There’s no real reason behind it. I simply like the idea of marking another year with something handmade, something that will always remind me of that particular birthday whenever I wear it again.
For my birthday in 2024, I chose a soft floral viscose. I wanted something light, breathable, and comfortable enough for the warmer summers we’ve been having in Denmark. The design itself was intentionally simple: a drawstring neckline and a three-tier gathered skirt that allowed the fabric to move beautifully.
Sometimes a fabric doesn’t need much.
It simply needs space to shine.
Looking back now, though, it isn’t really the dress I remember most.
It’s the birthday.
My boyfriend surprised me with a cake, complete with candles to blow out.
It might sound like the smallest thing in the world, but it wasn’t something I had experienced very often growing up. Birthdays always felt a little complicated to me, and somewhere along the way I stopped expecting them to feel special.
That afternoon was different.
For the first time in a very long time, I remember feeling genuinely calm. There wasn’t any anxiety about tomorrow or guilt about celebrating myself. Just a quiet feeling that everything would somehow be alright.
Life, of course, had other plans.
Only a couple of months later, my first semester would become one of the most difficult periods of my life, and I couldn’t have known that while blowing out those candles.
Maybe that’s why this dress means so much to me today.
It reminds me that peace doesn’t always have to last forever to be real.
Sometimes it’s enough that it existed.
Every time I see this dress hanging in my wardrobe, I think of that birthday, that little cake, and the wish I made before blowing out the candles.
I still don’t remember what I wished for.
But I think, in many ways, it came true.
P.S.
A few days later, I packed the dress for our last days of summer vacation in Copenhagen.
In true Danish fashion, the weather had other plans. Instead of sunshine and warm temperatures, we were greeted by one of the coldest, darkest days of the trip. Looking back at the photos still makes me smile because the dress and the weather couldn’t have disagreed more.
Anca GV 