The last day of my 50th year (A Sunday Blessing)

Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 51 years old.

I am a sentimental old fool when it comes to my birthday.

I never thought I'd live past 23. In fact, in high school, I was sure I would be dead before I finished college. I always had a macabre sense of humor...AT one point I even had my funeral planned.

I'd like to take this little bit of blog space to thank you, my friends and my family, who visit here looking for wacky stories and recipes from the South. This blog has been my respite since August. It keeps me on my gluten free diet, it keeps me positive that I'm healing myself. And it lets me have new friends in places I never dreamed about.

My blessing is that I have so much good in my life, even if there are challenges I face every day. No one said it was going to be easy. If it's too easy, I generally don't appreciate it. So here are some people and things I appreciate as I move into this next year. I hope one year from today, all these things are still as vital a part of my life as they this minute.

Randy, I appreciate you AND love you because you love me for all I am, and all I am not. Jeffrey, I appreciate you AND love you, even if I do want to make you walk home some days. Daddy, I appreciate you AND love you more than you'll ever know, especially since you know how hard I work every day and love me unconditionally, even when I disappoint you. Mary, I appreciate and love all you've done for my Daddy. When my mother died, I never thought he'd be happy again, but 10 years later, he is as happy as I've ever seen him, and healthy, too. Friends, too many to name, I hope to be as good a friend to you as you've been to me. Students, current, former, and future, know that I try to teach you the best I can, but YOU have to take it from there. I am so proud of you and I genuinely appreciate all your successes. Adopted sisters, brothers, childre, nieces, nephews, and grandbabies, I appreciate your tolerance of my need to make my circle of life larger than it is.

I had pneumonia on my 50th birthday, and the year that followed that day had a lot of medical challenges in it. I'm proud to say I got through them all. The year to come certainly has its challenges in store, but I hope all the lessons I've learned in the past 50 years will serve me for the next 50.

Much love to you all, and thank you for being here for me!
Ging

P.S. I do have one request. I am facing something at work Wednesday that I dread, and I need strong, encouraging thoughts. I can't tell you what it is, what it's about, or anything like that, but do know it will be something tough for me and a few of my colleagues. If you pray, pray for us. I need all the positive affirmations I can get right now.