Another orbital completion, unlocked

The colors of happiness
London, ON
January 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It's my birthday today. Or more precisely, the calendar tells me that I’ve completed another orbit around our nearest star.

Not that I had much to do with it. I just showed up at 8:08 a.m. in a Montreal hospital, cried a little bit (okay, a lot), probably randomly peed on someone, and then settled in for the journey of a lifetime.

And what a journey it’s been. I was blessed with the ability to create somethings from nothings. Then I was blessed with a wife who makes every day, orbitally significant or not, worthy of celebration. And we’ve been blessed with smart, kind, driven kids who any parent would be proud of, but we are especially so.

Lots of blessings in this family, and we realize how lucky we are to have been granted them. Because Planet Earth doesn't always distribute them evenly. Or at all.

I’ll skip over the COVID birthday narrative, because I don’t regret celebrating a second birthday under lockdown. This past year-and-a-bit has reminded us how precious time can be, and how hard we must hold on to time with our closest family members and friends.

The pandemic may have thrown wrenches to time and togetherness into our path, but it’s also reinforced why these - and they - matter so much in the first place. If we took these gifts for granted before, I’m certain we no longer do.

So today I’m reminded of how much I have - and why every day, whatever the calendar says, deserves to be cherished.

It’s a happy day, period. The very fact that we all got one is in itself a gift.

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