COUNTING BLESSINGS!

Everyone who knows me is aware; I LOVE celebrating my birthday. Blaming my mom and my grandparents for that one. I have a twin sister, Olga, and since we were little, my family always had at least two or three celebrations in our honor. So now, I follow in my mom’s footsteps and do the same for my family—why not celebrate for as long as you can?

For a while now, I have had a few wonderful groups of friends, and we love celebrating with each other. So, for this year, my birthday fell on a Thursday, (March 12^th,) which I was thrilled about, Izabella didn’t have a dance class, and we could celebrate my birthday as a family.

Friday was the day for us to celebrate in a fine dining restaurant and then Saturday evening I had dinner planned for some of my friends. During the day, I had also planned an event for families from DSAP, (Down Syndrome Association of Pittsburgh) an organization that is very close to my heart, in honor of World Down Syndrome Day. Stations with fruits, pretzels, chocolate, sprinkles and fun activities were set up. The weekend looked quite splendid.  As we were about to leave for the restaurant on Friday, the wind picked up, we experienced a power outage, got it back on rather quickly, only to lose it again until late Sunday evening. As a result, everything I planned for had to be canceled. I was beyond crushed. Not because of the restaurant I didn’t have a chance to go to, I felt sad for the DSAP families I had to disappoint. Yes, everyone said, “We understand,” but kiddos with Down syndrome were truly looking forward to this, and I wondered, “Do they understand?” I won’t lie, I was crushed to cancel on my friends; we were all looking forward to the weekend.  

AND, as I was feeling melancholy, I realized that is exactly how most people felt six years ago to the date. This was the exact date we entered quarantine, everything was put on pause, I lost my business and the “6 Feet Distancing” was born. Back then my mantra was, “As long as we have roof over our heads and we are healthy we will beat his together, there are worst things in life. Normality will come back. It is all temporary.” And it did and it was.

So why not follow the mantra now? Don’t dwell on what you didn’t get. Most events can be rescheduled. Force majeure—out of human control, focus on what you do have, a clan who cares for your existence, and as long as you are well, nothing else really matters. 

So yes, praising a birthday with people you cherish and who cherish you in return is crucial. It has nothing to do with materialist aspect of it, it has everything to do with BLESSINGS. 

La Dolce Vita! Happy April! Cherish your BLESSINGS!! 

Until next month!