Today is my birthday.  Technically.  It’s 2:51am which means it’s officially the date on which I was born.  However, since I haven’t been to sleep yet I feel like my birthday isn’t until “tomorrow”. This really as no bearing on the point of this post but I feel the need to mention it because…I don’t know, just because.

Anyway, I did try to go to sleep about an hour ago but my mind was racing, thinking about all of the things on my to do list.  As I was lying there I tried to think hard about  my birthday.  I still haven’t made plans for my big day and at this rate I don’t know if I actually will.  I had a pseudo celebration last night and I’m getting together with a bunch of friends next weekend for an outdoor adventure, so I haven’t felt stressed about not celebrating  THE day.  Besides, that “to-do” list is currently occupying every corner of my brain.

So as I was lying there trying to decide what to do tomorrow…er…today, I began to feel a bit guilty for not having made actual plans to celebrate.  Then a little voice in my head said, “Andrea, you’re 35 years old.  Aren’t you a little old to be getting excited about birthdays?”  I thought about it for a minute… My mom, my grandma, my husband and my MIL all think birthdays are no big deal, so it seems normal to join that club and treat it like it’s just another day.  But then out of no where it hit me.  Like really hit me hard… I’m alive!  I mean, of course I’m alive, I wouldn’t be writing this post if I wasn’t, but I started to think about some of my friends who are all my age and are currently battling cancer.  I have friends my age who have already fought cancer and won and others who didn’t.  I have friends who have died in car accidents and other random, unforeseen circumstances.  And here I am, not only alive and healthy, living a life that is totally worth celebrating.

I’m 35 today! THIRTY FIVE!  And I’m lucky that I’m alive!

You know when something devastating happens? And you say to someone, “you just never know” when discussing the random situation that caused the devastation? Well today I’m celebrating because I have survived 35 years and no one has ever referred to me when saying to someone else “You just never know”.

That is totally worth recognizing.  So I’ve decided that every year from this point forward I’m going to celebrate bigger and better because each year that I’m still fortunate enough to be alive means I’ve survived another 365 days of not becoming a “You just never know.”

Happy Birthday to ME!