When One Gets Older

Of course no one should be unhappy on their birthday. Apart from the fact that one gets older after the specified date, it's another reason for a get together and maybe the only day in the year where the world revolves around you, for a brief moment.
Apart from being elated on my birthday, I always feel guilty because I can never exactly remember others' birthdays. Past experience have shown that though the brain of yours truly can accommodate lecture notes from back to back, the cortical region for dates and names are pathetically primitive. I was in university before I can remember my parents' birth dates; I rely heavily on Facebook and address books to write birthday cards (not that I wrote more than 5 this year). In short, I'm just a slug when it comes to wishing others' a very happy birthday.
And the fact that I was feeling down for the past few days - personal issues, upcoming exams, and a mounting pile of work, as usual. Wednesday is our least favorite day of the week - because we have 7 hours of lectures, all self-directed. So I wasn't expecting anything else - probably just another ordinary day - because my bad habit of not remembering other people's birthday.
I felt a little winter hunger pang in my stomach, so I grabbed the bag of biscuits and carefully selected 2 complete pieces (yours truly has a habit of eating complete, undamaged biscuits preferentially). Roommate no. 4 murmured "stop eating, or else you won't have space for the cake!"
At that instant, all hell broke loose. Roommate no. 1 slammed the table and swear with the name of God he is no longer a friend of no. 4. Roommate no. 2, always looking for food (and just then coming to pick at the damaged biscuits I avoid) laughed and loudly proclaim half of the to-be-coming cake.
The rest of the process went rather nicely. And we all go to sleep at 12.30am.
The following day I proceeded an early start for the 7 hardcore hours. I was held up during lunchtime and dragged to a 15-pax lunch. We must have it brief because another 4 hours of head-to-toe physical examination awaits us later. It was a memorable birthday for me, though not involving extravagant meals and alcohol (smirks).
And back home, when I see my Facebook profile page was full of well-wishers and happy 21st, I'm starting to feel really guilty. "Oh Lord, please let me have a better mind to remember all their birthdays and the motivation to write on their wall on their birthdays in future," I said.
This year, I have no birthday wishes - well, maybe I'd wish for better birth date memories and a high pass in my coming board exam next summer.

Once again, thank you all for everything!