Two different (birth)days:
- Tuesday, May 24, 19(cough cough) – the day I came into this world
- Wednesday, October 22, 2025 – the day of my kidney transplant
May 24th was always circled on my calendar. A date indicating it is time to celebrate my life’s anniversary. There is always the ritual of it. The birthday (cheese)cake. The calls and texts. The cards and gifts. The birthday wishes on Facebook that show up once a year like clockwork. Servers singing while I sit awkwardly, not knowing where to look. And my many “thanks, I can’t believe it’s been another year” statements. Good days, but still ordinary ones.
Then…
October 22nd happened.
May 24th is the day I was born. October 22nd is the day I was given more quality time.
This year, May 24th feels different. Not louder or bigger, but deeper. Deeper in a way I could not have imagined two years before my kidney transplant. Instead of another circle on my timeline, this birthday is a realignment. It is the first one in years where I woke up ready for the day, the morning feeling like a gift instead of a test of endurance.
Birthdays used to be markers of survival. Another year of pushing through fatigue, of dialysis, labs, and appointments. Of hoping I could keep going. A mindful tally of endurance beneath every celebration. Sure, I celebrated, but there was always an exhaustion beneath my smile.
My first breath happened in a hospital room. So did my second one. When I came out of that transplant surgery and woke up, I took that first fresh breath like a newborn takes its first.
This was a new beginning cradled inside my previous beginning.
This year, I am celebrating more than a date marked on the calendar.
Today, I will blow out candles and say thank you. Thank you to my parents (care team)/sister and friends who have been there for each version of me along this journey. Thank you to Jeff, who gave part of himself so a stranger could give to me. Thank you to the donor I haven’t met and may never know. And thank you to Sidney (and their healthcare team), who shows up every single morning.
And thank you to the grace that carried me to this moment.
Today is a birthday unlike any other. A miracle of modern medicine like no other. A reminder that life can surprise us with goodness even after seasons of not knowing how the story was going to unfold.
Here is to another year. Here is to my story still being written. Here is to the gift of being alive to see it through.
May 24th and October 22nd.
Beginnings and New Beginnings
Chad….It’s been amazing to be your Mom…on both “birth” days !!. Our world is a much better place with YOU in it….with us ! We continue to walk by faith into each new day together! LM
Aw, I really liked that one, Uncle Chad.