You never forget birthdays that are special to you… for me it was my 7th birthday and my mom orchestrated a surprise party in our garage. She did it with such secrecy and pizazz and that I will never forget… It was a typical Saturday at our house.  I had a soccer game in the morning and my mom had made cupcakes for the team instead of the usual orange slices.  I had told my mom I wanted a party but it was a week or so away so I wasn’t really thinking about anything happening until then… After the game was over, we headed home and as my mom opened the garage door, there were my friends and family waiting to say, “SURPRISE!” Indeed I was suprised.  My mom had pulled off an unbelievable birthday celebration for me and managed to keep both of my older brothers from spilling the beans!

The reason this story is so memorable is because this was the last time I remember my mother healthy… shortly after this, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and although she was a fighter, she gave up her battle on June 14, just 2 1/2 years after her diagnosis.  She was 41. She died 1 week before her 42nd birthday…

So you see, birthdays are not just special, they create lasting memories when there are no more birthdays to celebrate with loved ones gone before us…

Treasure each birthday and treasure each day… remember someone, somewhere is making a memorable birthday today.

This weekend, my 12-year old daughter and her friends are hosting a surprise birthday sleepover for one of their friends whose mother lost her very short battle with lung cancer this past July.  Each year, her Mom would have a huge sleepover birthday party for her  which all the girls looked forward to.  This will be the first birthday she will have without her Mom and it will probably be difficult for her and her Dad and brothers.

I am so touched by the extraordinary compassion and sensitivity displayed by my daughter and her friends.  While they are just 12 years old, they instinctively knew what to do for their friend.  So, Saturday evening, think about the 10 twelve year olds who understand the meaning of more birthdays!

Birthdays…for some it’s a special day to acknowledge another year of life and for others it’s just another day. For me, something always comes up on a birthday whether it be my own or that of someone I know…

In the summer of 2002 birthdays took on a whole new meaning. For 7 months I was sick on and off. I had suffered from fevers of 102, 103, and sometimes 104 degrees. I had drenching night sweats to the point that I would wet my clothes and the sheets of my bed. My lymph nodes were enlarged and in less than a couple of months I had shed a little over 20 pounds. These symptoms would come and go during the 7 months and when summer came I knew this all couldn’t be, “just another cold.”

In July, my mom who is a nurse had me stop by her clinic to see the doctor that she had worked for. There I told him my symptoms and he had examined me. When he was done he told me that I had Lymphoma. At 23 years old I had no clue what that meant. He had left the room to tell my mom the news. When she returned to the room it was clear she had been crying. I thought to myself, “Oh God, I am dying…” I asked my mom, “What is Lymphoma?”

On July 24, 2002 which is my dad’s birthday I was officially diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Stage 3. From there I underwent chemotherapy for 6 months and my cancer went into remission. Four short months later while randomly scratching my neck I found a lump. The cancer had returned. For my 2nd battle with cancer my oncologist suggested that we do an Autologus Stem Cell Transplant. It’s a transplant procedure where they harvest your own stem cells and re-infuse them back into your body. It’s like taking apart an old car, getting rid of the bad parts and rebuilding it with new parts. So, since the cancer didn’t hit my bone marrow, I was able to be the donor and recipient of my own stem cells.

On June 21, 2003, my 23rd birthday I sat in a chair for several hours with an IV drip of various chemo drugs instead of behind a table with a birthday cake. For several weeks after that there was more preparation for the transplant. In August I was admitted to the hospital for more chemo and to complete the transplant process. I was scheduled to be there for 30 days straight.

On August 18th, my oncologist’s birthday; he re-infused me with my stem cells and I also had 5 blood transfusions that week. Weeks later, I was released from the hospital on August 31st, the day before my son’s 3rd birthday. Jacob was born on September 1st which was also my OBGYN’s birthday. I made her miss dinner with her family that day due to Jacob’s arrival which was actually 3 days late. I have been in remission since October of 2003!

As you can see birthdays are not just another day for me…even if it’s not my own. Prior to my transplant my friends and co-workers celebrated my several times in the month of June to make up for having chemo on my special day. Every day of life is precious! Celebrate the birthdays in your life because you never know what someone else is going through that day. This year is my 30th birthday and 6 year cancer free anniversary. It’s also the 25th anniversary of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. So, how am I celebrating all these special events? I am attending 25+ Relay For Life events this summer from March through August. I’m a 2 time cancer survivor so what better way to live out the rest of my life than to… CELEBRATE, REMEMBER, FIGHT BACK!

For my 18th birthday, I was a senior in high school. I was at school for 15 hours that day because on top of school, it was Tech Week for our Winter Play. When school let out for the day, my friend and I hung out with our friends down in the Robotics Lab before grabbing a bite to eat for dinner and heading for rehearsal. Rehearsal went very well, and when it was over, the Stage Manager told my friend and I to organize the prop closet. Later, she came back and told us to sweep the stage. When I came onto the stage, the entire cast and crew was standing there, and started to sing Happy Birthday to me, and my other friend brought out the cake he made for me. I was completely surprised, and that made me so happy!

Life happens so fast it all seems like a blur. But every once in awhile we have a wonderful day, a memorable day, one that stands out in our minds and that we can look back on with fondness. And often, those days are our birthdays. We’ve got photos, or maybe even video, and most importantly, we’ve got that feeling memorized in our hearts. Birthdays are days to celebrate who we are, and who we love.

The first birthday I really remember is my 8th. My dad took the whole family to the circus that day, so I got to leave school early. I was so excited about that at school I cut a big circle out of purple construction paper, and put a big “8″ in the middle – then I wrote around the edges: “Today is my birthday and I am.” I tied a piece of red yarn through a hole-punch in the top and wore that sign around my neck all day!

On my 12th birthday my mother surprised me with my first slumber party. My parents had recently divorced, and I had started a new school with new friends. My mom invited my new friends and my old friends and it was a great way for me to feel connected with both of these circles. I think it was my 14th birthday that we had a joint party with my brother and sister and we each invited two kids. My mom took us to Farrell’s and we ordered “The Zoo.” The Zoo is this massive sundae in a huge bowl, with all kinds of ice cream and toppings and little plastic animals all over it. It takes two waiters to race around the restaurant with a blaring horn carrying this thing, and the whole place goes crazy when they see it! Now that’s a celebration!

On my 16th birthday I passed my driver’s test and got my license. On my 21st birthday I went with my boyfriend to Las Vegas.

And then I had kids, and I remember just about every single one of their birthdays. The first birthday, the Power Ranger birthday, the birthday where we had the critter guy come with a huge snake and all the kids had their pictures taken with it. Then there was the Halloween birthday with all the kids dressed up in costumes, and Dracula came and did magic tricks. My son Brian went through a rather long “Batman” stage so of course we had to have a Batman party.

I married my husband Greg in August, and he had his birthday on our honeymoon. We ate dinner on the beach. It was lovely and romantic, and the first time we celebrated his birthday together!

For my mother’s 60th birthday all she wanted was to get the whole family together – so we all took her out to dinner. She was so happy!

We need to understand that when we remember birthdays, we remember what we did, and who we were with. We don’t necessarily remember the presents. This shows us what is important to us. Let’s have more birthdays.