A cheesy gift!

Today is my birthday. And I'm celebrating =)

I know this is going to sound sappy and cheesy ... but it's all true.

This birthday feels like a gift. Like a huge gift.

Last year's birthday felt so different. Don't get me wrong, everyone tried so hard to make last year's birthday special. And they did. But still. Last year on my birthday? I was terrified. I was terrified that it might be my last birthday. I was anxious. My surgery was only 2 days away.

Of course I was also happy and grateful to everyone who reached out and sent me good wishes and helped celebrate my birthday.

And yet.

Last year's birthday was so hard for me.

But this year. This year feels like a huge gift. Like a lovely blessing. It is amazing. I am alive. I get another birthday. Another year. More time. More memories.

And so I'm celebrating. I will go out to dinner and get a pizza puff (at our house tradition dictates that the birthday person gets to pick dinner that night - anything goes. And I decided I wanted pizza puffs!). I will drop my oldest off at softball practice (because apparently my birthday is not in fact a holiday worth canceling things like practices LOL!). Then we will come home. We will eat the cake my 2 daughters baked and decorated for me. We will eat ice cream. And open presents.

But mostly? I'll laugh and smile and love my family. Because just being here today to celebrate? Is gift enough.