20 years ago, I wasn't sure I would see tomorrow. ❤️
Twenty years ago, I went into lung surgery knowing there was a chance I might not survive.
That's a strange thing to carry into an operating room knowing you might close your eyes and never open them again. Hugging everyone at the operating room doors, looking at my little girl and wondering would she grow up without her mom.
But I did.
And here I am, 20 years later.
When I think about that now, I don't just think about surviving surgery. I think about everything I would have missed.
I think about the birthdays, the holidays, the ordinary Tuesday afternoons, the laughter, the hugs, the people I've met, the places I've been and the memories I've made.
And most of all, I think about the people I've loved.
That surgery gave me more time with my family.
More memories.
More laughter.
More conversations.
More life together.
And I will forever be grateful for every single one of those moments.
These 20 years haven't all been easy. There has been incredible happiness, but there has also been unimaginable loss. I've had my heart broken. I've had to say goodbye to people I wasn't ready to lose. I've walked through seasons when I wasn't sure how I was going to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
I've changed.
I've fallen.
I've gotten back up.
I've loved with my whole heart.
I've lost pieces of that heart along the way.
But I'm still here.
Twenty years ago, there were people praying that I would simply wake up from surgery.
Today, I'm looking back at 20 entire years of life I wasn't guaranteed.
That's 20 years of being a mom.
20 years of loving my family.
20 years of friendships.
20 years of memories.
20 years of laughter and tears.
20 years of watching life change in ways I never could have imagined.
There are people I wish were still here celebrating this milestone with me especially my sister. I would give anything to tell her, "Can you believe it's been 20 years?"
Somehow, I think she'd be pretty happy that I'm still here.
So today I'm not just celebrating surviving a lung who decided to quit.
I'm celebrating LIFE.
Every breath.
Every person I've loved.
Every memory.
Every second chance.
Every extra day I've been given.
Twenty years ago, I didn't know if I would get another tomorrow.
God gave me 20 more years of tomorrows.
And through everything those years have brought the beautiful, the painful and everything in between
I'm still breathing.
I'm still loving.
I'm still standing.
I'm still here.
And I will never take that lightly.
