Happy Birthday, Koye

7 years young.
To aid readability, other pictures are at the end.

As is often the case, my dominant emotion today is gratitude. I am grateful for life, Busola, my family, friends, work, and the progress I have made over the past year.

My birthdays are special to me. I use them to think, plan the new year, and bask in expressions of love from my family and friends. I usually don’t mark new calendar years, and do my reflection and celebration around my birthdays.

My birthdays are also infamous, as the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Thinking about the people who died on and because of 9/11 reminds me the world is not one big happy place, and that I must do what I can to help heal the world.

Pre-Birthday Random Thoughts

It's my birthday in a few days, and as is fast becoming my habit - I have taken some time off to reflect on my life and the passing of time. I'll share a blogpost on the 11th with pictures and stuff, but I wanted to share a few random thoughts already:

1. I really miss my parents. I can't believe I miss them this much. I'm so grateful they are alive. I wish I could go back in time and be 7 or 8 for a week or two so I can follow them everywhere again. Everything was so much simpler then!

2. I really love Immortality by Celine Dion and the Bee Gees. So this is who I am. I must choose to live for all that I can give. We don't say goodbye. I know what I've got to be. Immortality. There is a vision and a fire in me. I have got a dream that must come true. Fulfill your destiny. Almost every sentence of the song is pregnant with meaning for me. I have to find Celine Dion, hug her, and take a selfie with her - in this lifetime.

3. There is either something good going on, or I have managed to convince myself every year since I started writing on my birthday that it was my best year ever. I have been grateful for something every birthday, and at the time - it genuinely felt like the most amazing thing ever. This year I am grateful for a new set of 'things' that feel like the most amazing things ever!

4. Time does fly. I just re-read the birthday-entry I posted in 2012, and I can remember sitting to write it. How can it be five years since that post already?

5. I am not the best friend that ever lived, but I have somehow been blessed with an amazing support system. Even during my most melancholic moments when all I wanted was to be alone, I have enjoyed lots of love, support, inspiration, and care from many, many people. Thank you, people. I don't deserve many of you. I am grateful for you.