This past Sunday I turned 29! So what does that mean to
me? Yes, it’s my last year of my 20s.
One thing is for sure, I will not change how I view my life. I have been blessed with more immaterial and
material things than I ever thought I would ever have in my life! How did I celebrate my birthday? I celebrated with family as those are the
people you can count on the most in your life!!
I am not really big into throwing a huge birthday bash as I am more of a
low key person. Many of you who are my friends
on Facebook noticed I did not even put my birthday on Facebook as in what day
it is. I guess I should say that is
mainly because I took over Maria’s Facebook account. In fact, her birthday date is used on
Facebook, not mine! But I am sure a lot
of people will still wish me happy birthday on Maria’s birthday.
Today, at work we went out to celebrate my birthday which is
a really wonderful gesture from my boss.
I was asked by a co-worker if I celebrated any milestones with my
birthday. I should let you know that this co-worker doesn’t know I have
CF. Yes, some people I work with do not
know I have CF while others do know I have CF.
Anyway, I replied with this statement. I’m 29 years old now and every
year is a milestone in my book! My
co-worker said well that isn’t a milestone.
Yes, I know I am not 16 (driving privileges), I am not 18 (adult and
voting), I am not 21 which is beyond overrated (legal drinking age), I am not
30, I am not 40, I am not 50, I am not 60, I am not 65 etc. You get the point. But for whatever reason this just rubbed me
the wrong way that I was not hitting a milestone with my “new” age. As I said, every year is a milestone even for
those without CF as no single day is guaranteed to anyone. I have the same chance of not waking up
tomorrow just as you do or the same chance of getting hit by a bus. Ok, I understand I have CF maybe that gray
cloud could cover the sun a little more than other people’s cloud but I refuse
to be a Debbie downer!
I have not really ever talked about this topic on my blog
but I will tell you that it’s a miracle that I am even here today. So what am I hiding? Well thankfully, I was way to young to ever
remember this and I do not want to over emphasize something that has happened
to probably many infants when they first entered the world. As soon as I came out I did not cry! That
meant I wasn’t breathing!! According to my dad, he recalls how blue I was all
over my body. The doctor, the nurses,
and the rest of the staff paged the crash cart! I guess just before all the
electrical shockers arrived I decided to stop scaring everyone and took my
first breaths. I honestly, have no idea
how my parents felt during those few seconds which probably felt like an
eternity with me not breathing. Maybe
this was my first sign that I had CF. To
bad it took the doctors and everyone else involved 12 years from that point on
to figure out I have CF.
What is the point of me even sharing what happened today at
lunch and what happened to me when I was first born? I don’t really know but maybe it’s because I
just wanted to write about appreciating life and not taking a single day for
granted on this planet. I think
sometimes the people who do not have an underlying health condition truly do
not embrace the life they have been given.
There are also a good amount of people with an underlying health
condition who still do not embrace life! There are days when I hear/see/read that some
people find a negative to focus on in their life. Maybe we have been trained as a society that
negative news sells so lets focus on something negative in our life and beat
our self up about how negative our life is.
Or the theory of you only live once. It’s so cliché that people use the
“you only live once” excuse about why they don’t take care of themselves. In my book “you only live once” is more
reason than anything to embrace your health and your life.
As I sit here and think back on my very young life at 29 I
am beyond blessed to have hit on so many milestones in my life whether that is
an age milestone or another accomplishment.
I have been able to see myself change from a child, to a teenager, to an
adult, to a husband, to a father in this short time. I will say that as I have aged I have grown
to appreciate more things in life than I have ever before. I guess as a child and a teenager you are
still trying to figure out the meaning and value in life. In all reality, sometimes I do have days where
I am down about things and they aren’t always tied to CF. Those things that bring me down some days
could be life events, things that occur at work, or just other things that I
have no control over. But I will tell
you those days are very few and far between the days where I find many
positives in my life. I never take for
granted that I got out of bed today, I get to put on a vest and inhale what
seems like the ocean via hypertonic saline before I start my day, I get to put
in 8 hours of work 5 days a week to financially help my family, I get to go
home to a beautiful wife and miracle daughter who love me more than I could
ever put into words, I get to spend quality time with the people I love and who
love me for me every day, and I get the opportunity to make memories every
day. You see this is what drives me
every single day to put my best foot forward.
I cannot wait to see what my life looks like in a month from now, a year
from now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, and even 50
years from now. That’s what keeps my
motivation clicking on all cylinders, the FUTURE!!!
I am not only doing what I do every day for my family but I
am putting 110% of my effort into life for the people who have lost their
battle to CF! No one knows when their
time will be up but I refuse to ever take a single day for granted. I hope many of you find something positive in
your every day life because negativity only brings us down!
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come.
We have only today. Let us begin.”
―Mother Teresa
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