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Birthday Reflection 2024


Thank you. 

Every year on our birthdays, my bestie Ribka and I reflect on the past year of our lives and envision what we would like to see in our lives in the next year. 

In reflecting, I remembered in particular, a day that I parked in front of my house after a long day at work and continued to sit in the car with tears rolling down my face uncontrollably. I was scheduled to travel that night and I had not packed and it was an early flight. But it felt on that day that I was just failing at everything and I felt completely helpless. 

Something caught my eye, and when I turned around, Ribka had just parked next to my car and got out and walked to the driver side of my car and I did not even realize it. It’s like I saw an angel. Actually, I did see an angel. She was my hope that God sent right at that moment. 

This year, we had been ecstatic that our offices are only a hallway down from one another, and yet, we do not see each other as often as we could. This being mostly my fault. I’ll say see you in 5 minutes and then 5 hours later, she’ll ask if I’m still coming. So on this particular day, when she showed up at that perfect moment, I knew I was okay. 

But when I saw her face, for a moment, what was slowly rolling down my face all of a sudden felt like the Niagara Falls had teleported from upstate New York and was now falling down my face that I could not see anymore. 

If you think the response was a hug and some sweet words, it was not. It was a lot of “flowery” words that made me stop crying, laugh a little, but also reminded me of the resilience that we have built. The tears were tears of frustration, tears of defeat, tears of sadness, and tears of exhaustion. They were tears of helplessness. But what it was not, was hopelessness. They were also just an outlet of all the emotions that were bottled in. Had it not been for her on that particular day, I could have gone down the slippery slope of why’s and feeling sorry for myself. 

And questioning why every now and then is not a bad thing. Questioning why is important to ensure that you are still being true to yourself and the intent and purpose is still clear. But my biggest aha moment was realizing just how resilient I truly am. 

We cannot and should not pretend to have it all together all the time. It’s ok to break down and cry every now and then, but it’s also important to dust yourself and get up again. This is not easy, but……

Through faith, through family, and through friends, I have been able to weather the toughest storms. Through faith, through family, and through friends, I have been able to build resiliency knowing that they will always be there for me. 

As I reflect upon this past year of my life, I am also reminded of all the good times then and those that lay ahead. This year, I have also felt a lot of love and support from family and strangers alike. This certainly makes up for all the tears,  and then some. 

So today, a day after my birthday, I sit quietly and whisper thanks into the wind and pray for God’s blessings upon you, who has had a part in my life. Thank you to my parents — my father who’s passed away and my mom who continues to be our rock. They were the first to teach me to be resilient. Thank you to ALL my friends everywhere. You have no clue how much you have helped me. But most importantly, my thanks is to God Almighty for bringing me through every single time. 

I look back and I can say with conviction, that I am ready to continue my journey. Thank you for all the birthday wishes, prayers, greetings, and cake. It’s been a blessing to have each and everyone of you. I pray always that the Lord bless you today and always abundantly. 

Ke kmal mesulang ea Rubak lolemolem lomekngeltengat re kid el rokui. 



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