Celebration of life and mourning of a loss

Last Monday, I celebrated my 22nd birthday, another additional year of my existence. I used to think that it was going to be 'just another' birthday, but it wasn't. It was probably one of the most unforgettable birthdays I had in my life.

The same day I was celebrating my life was the same day our neighbor, one of my earliest friends in our neighborhood, died at the very young age of 23. She had a heart failure.

I got the news on my way to work and I was really bothered by it. I don't know how to properly describe how I felt when I first heard the news. It felt... Different? Surreal? I couldn't think of the right words to describe how I felt that time.

She was a brave girl. I was turning seven when we moved here, and she was already eight, but she already knew her condition and was always grateful that she is still with us. She knows that her life has been a miracle, especially when the doctors have told her parents before that she wouldn't last a year.

I felt really sad for her death, even if we weren't as close. We occasionally smile at each other when we come across and greet each other during Christmas and New Year.

That incident made me realize how grateful I should be in every birthday that comes. Birthdays are not just an ordinary occasion to me anymore, it should definitely be a celebration of life, a day that marks another year full of blessings from God.

: Seymour Stein - Belle and Sebastian