Better Older than Deader
Today I am grateful for our reliable laptop. I am also grateful for my 47th birthday.
This is my first blog, and this is my first birthday since starting my blog. I pondered whether or not to mention my birthday, but the message of gratitude is just too big to pass up. I have been fond of the saying "Better older than deader" for years. As well as I can remember, I made it up myself a few years ago. Many people seem bothered by birthdays and getting older. I must have said this to someone as a way to cheer them up or get them thinking, and I have kept using it.
The fact that I have had two diseases that kill people has made this an even more meaningful line. I appreciate every birthday I get. My alcoholism could have claimed me before I left my teen years. Running my car off the road or into a tree was a real possibility on many nights. If I don't keep doing daily work for my daily disease, it could still claim me.
Four years ago, I celebrated my 43rd birthday while awaiting a lumpectomy for breast cancer. That was an intensely difficult and emotional time. The first surgery is so telling regarding staging the cancer and determining how promising or grim things look. I was full of fear and wondering how many more birthdays I would have.
As it turned out, my breast cancer was Stage 1 with no evidence of lymph node involvement. There are no guarantees, but I am feeling healthy and energetic four years out. Talk about gratitude!
"Better older than deader" is 100% about gratitude. I have plenty I want to do and many people I want to keep spending time with. When I start feeling that older is not better than deader, then we'll have a different discussion.
Glad to be here. Have a good day!
This is my first blog, and this is my first birthday since starting my blog. I pondered whether or not to mention my birthday, but the message of gratitude is just too big to pass up. I have been fond of the saying "Better older than deader" for years. As well as I can remember, I made it up myself a few years ago. Many people seem bothered by birthdays and getting older. I must have said this to someone as a way to cheer them up or get them thinking, and I have kept using it.
The fact that I have had two diseases that kill people has made this an even more meaningful line. I appreciate every birthday I get. My alcoholism could have claimed me before I left my teen years. Running my car off the road or into a tree was a real possibility on many nights. If I don't keep doing daily work for my daily disease, it could still claim me.
Four years ago, I celebrated my 43rd birthday while awaiting a lumpectomy for breast cancer. That was an intensely difficult and emotional time. The first surgery is so telling regarding staging the cancer and determining how promising or grim things look. I was full of fear and wondering how many more birthdays I would have.
As it turned out, my breast cancer was Stage 1 with no evidence of lymph node involvement. There are no guarantees, but I am feeling healthy and energetic four years out. Talk about gratitude!
"Better older than deader" is 100% about gratitude. I have plenty I want to do and many people I want to keep spending time with. When I start feeling that older is not better than deader, then we'll have a different discussion.
Glad to be here. Have a good day!
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