FIVE

How does she do this to me?  She just keeps getting older, and with that comes cuter, smarter, more precocious, more inquisitive, and more beautiful inside and out.  This year on August 31st, we had a small family celebration with buttered noodles and soy sauce as the chosen dinner, then off to the first dance class of the school year, followed by a rainbow ice cream cake.  After so much birthday partying, it was nice to have it be a bit mellow.

As a friend whose child also has cancer said, birthdays now take on a dual purpose.  I, of course, remember back to the unforgettable day that Anya came into the world.  How, with that moment, the course of my life changed forever.  I recall her achievements of the past year and look forward to the year that is coming.  But the new purpose that Anya's birthdays hold now is celebrating her life.  She is here and alive and we have been able to bask in her presence for one more year.  I am not sure you can understand this feeling unless you have seen your child stare her own mortality in the eye.

Happiest of birthdays to my favorite 5-year-old!