Tonight, as I finish up my 30th year on earth, I've been reflecting on all the wonderful things that I have experienced/received/witnessed so far. Here is each year and the thing I'm most thankful for.
1 - Being born to a couple committed to staying together through thick and thin
2 - Having an older brother to take care of me and teach me
3 - The ability to run, jump, play, sing, dance, etc. at will
4 - All of the worlds that are available to me through books
5 - Having a dog as a kid to raise, love, and through whom I could learn about life and death
6 - Going to a safe school
7 - Spending the holidays with my family and learning how special those occasions really are
8 - Changing schools often enough to learn the importance of making new friends
9 - Going on loooong summer road trips with my family and seeing the variety that is our country
10 - Learning the importance of friendship by watching my mother's example with her own friends
11 - Being part of my parents' renewal of vows ceremony and seeing their love so real and palpable
12 - Finding friends in junior high that would remain close throughout my twenties
13 - Growing up in beautiful Colorado with an appreciation for nature
15 - Spending two summers away at camp in Minnesota and learning how to not be shallow from the awesome collage-aged counselors there
16 - Getting my first job and being able to work with one of my very best friends
17 - Having a first love who set my bar of expectations high enough to weed out the real losers when I got to college
18 - Going to my first-choice college and reveling in its bubble-like security
19 - Going to Africa, an experience that completely blew my mind in a good way
20 - Living with an incredible group of women who inspired me daily
21 - Joining AmeriCorps and learning how to live off of high job satisfaction and terrible pay
22 - Doing the Avon Breast Cancer 3 Day walk with my mother, and using the opportunity to tell her how truly amazing I thought she was
23 - Being with my mother the night/day that she passed on, and seeing my father's tenderness towards her
24 - Enjoying married life (as I continue to do!) with the man of my dreams
25 - Finding real joy in working with children
26 - Becoming a mother
27 - Learning how to build adult friendships, and being so blessed with the many women I found in Salt Lake who welcomed my friendship
28 - Receiving so much training in Early Childhood Education, courtesy of Rowland Hall
29 - Giving birth to a beautiful daughter; I now feel I can pass on everything my mother passed to me
30 - Finding my place at home with my son and daughter, and feeling a sense of accomplishment linked to neither a resume nor a paycheck
Tomorrow I turn 30, and though I had expected to balk a little at the milestone, I feel serene instead.
2 comments:
Welcome to the "30s" club, it's actually pretty awesome. Happy Birthday, Krissy. I hope it's a good one, you deserve the very best.
(p.s. Roy is doing OK, spent 11 days in the hospital but is home now. Thanks for being there for me, I'll email you with all the details soon)
I loved this post! I especially liked your "sense of accomplishment" part.
I have heard that the 30's are the best time of life, I'm glad you are starting yours strong. Happy birthday!
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