The first birthday in a new place asks belonging to catch up with time.

The calendar keeps its dates whether or not your life has caught up with them. In a new place the day arrives before the friendships that would ordinarily fill it, and the gap between those two facts is felt in a single afternoon. Nothing has gone wrong. Belonging takes longer to build than a lease does, and a first birthday is simply where that shows.

Mark it yourself rather than letting it pass, even if it is only a good meal and a walk somewhere you like. Let the people far away reach you, and answer them properly when they do.