Today, I turn 48-years-old.  In my family, that is a huge milestone that I am so very happy to reach.  I am not afraid to tell folks my age because to me, it means I have surpassed another year that my parents and my older brother did not get to enjoy on this earth. 

There are a lot of family genetics on both sides of my family that can obviously be deadly.  My father and older brother died at the ages of 36 and 34 respectively, of brain aneurysms.  My mother committed suicide (intentional or not) when she was 35.  For me, being alive another year is a major accomplishment that I am quite proud of.  I want to raise my children.  I want to live long enough for them to succeed at whatever they choose to do after they graduate from high school.  I want to enjoy my husband as much as possible. 

I want to LIVE life to its fullest!

Now that I have MS, I can still do all of those things – though perhaps not with as much zeal as I had before the MS was diagnosed and as the disease progresses.  But, I *want* to still do everything I can to make sure that my children have their mother for as long as possible. 

So, I may be another year older but these four kids of ours are reason enough to embrace all that life has to offer, to the best of my ability, and grow old with my husband and find joy in all the big and little things that our children accomplish.

My foster parents are taking me out to dinner tonight…and we will have our own little family celebration when I return home.

Go ahead – celebrate with me!