Turning 40 in 2020

Expect the unexpected...especially now.

I officially just completed my 40th trip around the sun.

It feels good and yet with all that is happening in our world, so overwhelming.

Many scripts ran through my head for how I wanted to craft this post. There were so many edits and frankly, a lot of blank pages all week.

Over the past few days, several people close to my people have lost their lives to COVID-19. Some friends left coronavirus hotspots and are now wondering when they will return home, or if they will ever want to. Family dynamics are changing or being challenged. More jobs are being lost, more families are running out of funds for food and more charities are kindly asking for help. There is no better time to respond than now... for those who can.

We all read. We all are becoming reporters. We all have so much to say and at times, absolutely nothing to say at all. Some of us are homeschooling. Some of us are cooking (or taking this time to learn how!). Some of us are saving lives. Some are uplifting lives. Some are losing the lives of the people closest to them. So much is happening so fast and yet so slowly.

Plans have changed for birthdays, trips and many of life's other celebrations but in the grand scheme of things, that is quite alright. We pivot. We adapt. We try not to sweat the small stuff and instead, find the small stuff to celebrate.

So on my 40th birthday...

I counted my blessings from the past four decades and prayed for 40 more... happy and healthy ones please.

I poured my first cup of coffee to my three kiddos singing Happy Birthday to You.

I went on a social distance-spaced walk with a best friend who has been in my life for 37 of my 40 years.

My favorite guy, hubby Andrew Hunter, asked my favorite musician, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Andrew Duhon, to surprise me with a birthday performance via video. Click here to view. I'm obviously a huge fan of the name Andrew!

Family and friends sent amazing birthday love and messages in all different forms, some stopped by for a wave and special social distance chat, Andrew cooked an amazing meal and the cake of all cakes was even ("contactlessly") delivered... a delicious creation from a South Florida bakery that can now consider me one of its biggest fans.

The cake stood tall not only for me, but also for my dad... the person I have had the pleasure to share a birthday with for all of my days (back in 1980, my mom said she didn't know what else to get him that year since they already had a baby boy). Last year, we moved my dad next door to us and are doing are best to protect him from coronavirus. No more hugs and kisses and time spent in each other's personal space, but that doesn't stop us from singing Happy Birthday to each other from across the room.

I was hoping to have this birthday pass me by and stay 39 years old for a little while longer since it was not the way we planned to celebrate it. But over the past 24 hours, my life transitioned from 39 to 40 anyway.

Life is unpredictable and a journey full of blessings and choices we can control... and many ups and downs we can't.

As I poured my first cup of coffee this morning, my son Cody shouted, "So now you're 40, Mom!"

Yes, Cody, I sure am! Here we go...