Twenty Seven Years

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blogging for an important announcement.....

It's MY BIRTHDAY!!

Now, normally I would revisit some of the highlights of the previous year, citing new-found wisdom I've attained in the years I've been around (yeah, all 27 of them). But that is until I got a birthday card in the mail.

A birthday card from my oncology nurse. Not a big deal right? Her daughter and I share a birthday, so she always remembers it. In an email to her a few months ago, I asked about Krissy, a girl that was diagnosed with the same cancer, the same day I was.

We went through treatment simultaneously, emailed each other, and visited when we were getting chemo at the same time. We both went to craft hour in the ped. wing of the hospital. We celebrated St. Patty's Day together with silly green shamrock hats and our IV poles by our sides. She relapsed and I visited her once while she was getting new chemo. She was happy that this treatment let her hair grow back. We both laughed that it had come back bright orange, since she was blonde before. She didn't always return my emails, so I thought she was just busy when I stopped getting replies.

At my final checkup, the one where I'd be released from their supervision and be considered cured, I was afraid to ask about Krissy, already half knowing what had happened. I wanted this final check-up to be a happy one with no tears.

That birthday card had confirmed it. About a year after treatment, Krissy passed away. She was only 20 years old.

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We were supposed to make it through this together, I thought to myself through the sobs. After a good, long cry in Matt's arms last night, I became even more grateful for the second chance I had been given. I made it to 27 years. I could have just as easily not made it this long.

So when you have your birthday, don't complain about how your body is aging and sagging. Don't be upset that it doesn't always do what you want it to because it's getting older. Be grateful that you're here to blow out those candles.

Here's to living (at least) another 27 years!!