i’m twenty years old. i’ve been so blessed. more blessed then i could say. i have an incredible family. friends who stand by my insane side. a boy who lives to make me happy every day. God has given me twenty fabulous years on this earth. Sure, He’s tested me but i could not ask for a better twenty years then these. i have recently come to realize as i look back on everything i’ve been through, that some people don’t get the chance to grow up. i’ve seen two decades of this world and a lot of people cant say that. i’m at a crossroads, i’m not only twenty but also halfway done with one of the most challenging nursing program in the south. if you asked me a few years ago if i thought i would be here i would have laughed. a few years ago, i wasn’t sure if i could go to college. i wasn’t sure if i would ever be healthy enough to function outside of my home. but i did it. i jumped, and i grew my wings on the way down. and i think they’re still growing. i still am scared out of my mind of the idea of graduating and i cried like a baby leaving my roommate today. but i was never supposed to be twenty. i was born blue, barely alive, tiny and being strangled by my own umbilical cord which was wrapped around my neck an amazing five times. i have been fighting for my life since the day i was born. and twenty years later, i have my scars. and damn it i’m proud of them. in twenty years i’ve struggled with an eating disorder, life threatening illnesses, losing family members, divorce, a sister with anxiety and addiction, emotional abuse, and losing my faith. but i can in the first few minutes of my twentieth birthday say, i am proud to be who i am. i am loved, i have become who God has wanted me to be the whole time. take it or leave it. and if the rest of my life is another two days, years, decades or centuries i know that i am so blessed. every breath. every second. every smile. is a blessing.
Happy birthday to me. i did it. i beat the odds. i’m twenty.
