Grateful for One More Day: My 40th Birthday Reflection

And I am writing this from our camper, sitting quietly by the lake while each member of my family is off doing their thing. It is peaceful here, something I can always count on this place for. The breeze is blowing, the fish are jumping, the birds are singing, and for the first time in a long time, I am just… still. Not just physically (I have been doing that for a couple weeks), but mentally.

Yesterday my wife and I celebrated 17 years of marriage. And if I am being honest, I leaned on her more in these past few weeks than I probably have in the last few years combined. I would not be here at the camper today, able to sit in this peace, without her steady hand helping me through one of the scariest two-week stretches of my life.

As a refresher, a couple weeks ago, everything changed. I landed in the ER. No warning. One minute I was fine. The next, my heart was racing, my vision was going black, and I was asking if someone could please just help me sit down before I passed out in the middle of the store.

In the weeks since, my whole life has been different. I have been moving slower, eating differently, reading labels I used to ignore, checking my blood pressure morning and night, and waking up wondering if today will be a good day or a scary one.

It has been humbling.

But today, more than anything, I am feeling thankful.

Thankful to be here.

Thankful for this breath.

Thankful to wake up and hear my kids laughing in the camper.

Thankful for a wife who holds space for both my strength and my weakness.

Thankful for a renewed opportunity to pay attention to what really matters.

I know many of you reading this know exactly what I mean. You have been through this and worse. You have fought for your health when no one believed you. You have rebuilt yourself after life knocked you flat. You have looked in the mirror and thought, “I do not even recognize myself anymore,” and then fought anyway to find the person you still are.

And through it all, you have also learned how fragile this life is. How none of us is promised tomorrow. How easy it is to get swept up in the next goal, the next weight loss milestone, the next number on a scale, and forget that the only number that really matters is one.

One more day.

One more sunrise.

One more chance to be here.

And this whole experience has only made my resolve stronger. The fight for better health, for better access, for a healthcare system that truly puts patients first… it has never felt more urgent to me. I will be pressing harder than ever in the weeks and months ahead. And if you believe in this fight too, I hope you will subscribe and stay connected here. There is room for you in this movement. We need every voice.

The fight continues…

For those who have walked this road before me.

For those walking it beside me.

And for those who will come after, needing voices like ours to say, “You are not alone.”

If you are reading this today, know that I am grateful for you too. This community, this space we have built together, means more to me now than it ever has.

Here is to life.

Here is to gratitude.

Here is to one more day.