For the way you love. Your loyalty. Your discipline. Your silliness.

Your passion for movies and sports. Your laughter. The way you learn.

Your determination. The way you inhale life. Your joy.

Aways joy. The way you love me. Your leadership.

Today I celebrate your life and those you’ve inspired during your 37 years on earth.

I’m forever thankful to have you as mine on this side of heaven.

Friday was my husband’s birthday and I always share this piece I wrote a year or two after we had been married. Our story is one that you often hear about on TV but never think you’d experience it. We met on facebook — he messaged me after seeing me in a picture with his friends from high school, a month later we met in person and we began to message through facebook thereafter. We were Juniors in college attending different schools. We went from messaging, to exchanging numbers, having our first date and then spending his birthday visiting Knoxville, TN as he prepared to move for the summer. It had only been 7 months but I knew. And I didn’t know much about anything especially about love and definitely not being with someone long term. But in that moment, on his birthday, I knew I wanted to spend many more with him. He had already let me know that God spoke to him about me being his wife so we were in this space of basically watching God move.

Being open to the idea and allowing ourselves to truly inhale each moment.

A year and a month later we’d be married.

So here we are, 14 years after that first birthday together and we are finding new ways to enjoy this celebration of life while being in quarantine. My sister helped me pull together a Star Wars themed home “party.” And by party I mean the 4 of us with a lot of zoom calls. And by my sister helped me I mean that she planned it and had the supplies sent to the stores in my city. (Thank God for Drive Up pickup and Shipt)

We are in what I call birthday season because each of our birthdays are right behind one another— April, May, June, July and it’s always a crazy time. Once one birthday ends we’re planning for the next one. Who to invite, where it will be, how much are the deposits, party favors, food etc. But this year I found myself feeling a little down about this birthday season not looking like the previous ones. While birthday parties can be stressful it’s pure joy being able to be with the people who want to celebrate your life with you. But I decided that we would still make everything memorable.

We will still connect with the people we love.

We will still enjoy good food and cake.

We will still celebrate because even in the time we’re in we still need to remember there’s beauty in life and there’s always a reason to celebrate.