For the record, I am 57, and happy to be here. The best gift I will ever get is another day to wake up, because it has not necessarily been a given. I had a couple of very close calls in my thirties, and I definitely should have been gone at 40. I am a testament to the fact that a young doctor is not a bad thing. (Even if he did look like he was still in high school....)
I was thinking today about how much I would have missed if I had not made it to celebrate this birthday. My life looks entirely different than I ever imagined, and I would have missed some of the very best parts.
I have survived divorce, and then, after ten years, married someone who loves me just as I am, irritating as I may be to him at times.
I have seen my children grow up and become loving, caring, stable, well mannered, thoughtful adults that I am so proud of, and I got to be a part of that process.
I have seen my daughter marry the love of her life, and become a mother herself.
Which, more importantly, made me a grandmama, which is pretty special!
My son is making his career path, and I have seen him mature into the man he was destined to be.
I have moved from my metropolitan home in Kansas City back to the rural countryside of Minnesota, with all the changes that entailed.
I have started a business doing something I really enjoy, working with people I like, in a small community that matters to a lot of people.
It is impossible to be unhappy on such a day. I celebrate each year with gratitude that I have been privileged to see another birthday, and remain a part of life for those I love and care for. I don't need songs or presents or fancy food to celebrate this day. I am alive, I am here, and that is my celebration. Everything else is the frosting on my cake. Happy birthday to me! And I hope to be here for many more years, writing, singing, playing, creating, sharing, being.
Psalm 118:24 sums it up for me.
"This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!"
Rejoicing today!
