Since I began participating in the world of social media, I have posted a birthday selfie every year. I also go to Houston’s for my ritual birthday steak, the Hawaiian ribeye. It is sooo good. It’s the only time of the year that I eat red meat. And I’ve made it my birthday tradition to go even if I have to go alone. So anyway, this is the selfie I posted just a few days ago on my birthday. And I promise it really was taken the morning of August 11th.
That morning was a doozy. No one would ever know by looking at this picture that I was sick as could be. I was having trouble breathing, having coughing attacks and wheezing like crazy. But I’ve always been a trooper with an insane amount of drive so I can power through anything. But a few hours after I took that photo I was sitting in the nearest NextCare Urgent Care facility waiting on an emergency breathing treatment. As it turns out, I had developed, bronchitis, once again, and along for the ride this time was as the nurse said “a touch of pneumonia in my right lung”. Oh great. After my breathing treatment and chest x-rays, I was advised to go home and spend the next four days indoors bonding with my meds… steroids, antibiotics and my albuterol inhaler. I hate that thing! So not cute using it. Not that I had any big plans for the day because I didn’t. So there was no Hawaiian ribeye steak dinner that night. I thought I’d feel a bit depressed about being down on my big day, but I wasn’t. Instead I found that I was happy to be able to sit at home and do nothing. I had been going and running like crazy for the last few weeks. What I’ve learned over the years is that when God wants you to rest and take it easy, He will make it so you absolutely have no other choice but to do just that! So I embraced it. I only went out to pick up food; didn’t wear any make-up or do anything to my hair. It was great! I slept and did some reading, and watched movies, and slept and surfed the internet and did I say I slept, lol! I have to say it was a birthday weekend I enjoyed tremendously. I felt very grateful in the moment for being able to shut everything down and relax. I didn’t need anything else. I was happy and content and who could ask for more than that as a birthday present, right? I’ll take it.
