Today is my birthday. It’s a weird feeling this year, just as everything is weird this year I guess lol. Again with the firsts, this is the first time in a long time that I’ve been near people who know me on my birthday that I can spend time with. Even without the constant moving of the past 20 years, the timing of my birthday has always been shitty in terms of celebrating. It’s summer and if we weren’t moving, everyone else was on vacation, so I’ve never done much for it, though part of me has always wished I could. I’ve always done the best I could under the circumstances, no matter how what that might look like and yet, I will always maintain that birthdays are not just another day.

Don’t get me wrong- it may pass by like any other day and many in my life have. I don’t have to have a party or do anything for that matter. My friends from around the country don’t have to come together and celebrate me. But what I do have to do is take a pause and feel gratitude that I’m alive.

My behavior over the years has made that challenging and at times questionable. I’ve had a number of near misses several times in different ways: alcohol poisoning multiple times- one pretty severe, a couple major car accidents, taking a line-drive to the throat in softball, having a stroke, the list goes on…but I’m still here, and now I am doing all the things that move me in a better direction. I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been physically and mentally, and each day I strive to be better than I was the day before. There is always room to grow.

What I celebrate each year is my continued perseverance and determination to not go down without a fight.

Every year matters. Every day matters. Every minute. Every moment. They all matter. Celebrate each one you get to add to your experience in this life. It’s what makes us who we are.