Happy Glad to Be Alive Day!: 10th GTBAD Letter

October 22, 2007

I read each one of my Glad to Be Alive Letters every year right before I write the newest “edition”. It’s become a sort of reminder of where I was and where I was headed in years before. In each of those past nine letters, I have written to you about the shortness of life, the joy and sorrow in life, the hope in life. And every year, I mean it, and every year I try to live according to what I have written. The simple truth is that as I sit here writing you, I cannot think of one thing I have said to you that still does not apply. If anything, with each new experience, and with a renewing of old experiences, I am continually reminded of the value of life. I am reminded that with hope there is despair; with death there is life. All are irrevocably intertwined. Just like courage and fear. In order to appreciate the happiness and hope we take for granted within our lives, we must first see or experience what life is like without it. That is the beauty and value in life, being able to appreciate what life offers to those unafraid to take it. Learning to value life is one of the hardest things a person can possibly learn because of how very personal the journey is, and most often people don’t learn it until something happens to themselves or someone they love. Even then the lesson can go unheeded. But even more than that, living life means rising from the ashes when your life lies broken around you and being able to find the hope, the light, the positive in those times.

It’s been ten years since I rose from the ashes of my own life, ten years since I began my own journey, and ten years since hope was taken away on that fateful October day. It’s so very weird to think that I was once given three short months to live because the past ten years have been so very full of life; life I thought I would be denied. But…I…have…survived! I shout that from the roof tops, with every cell and fiber within my body, with all the joy I can. I am alive! And I am trying my hardest to not waste a single day, a single hour, a single minute, a single second nor a single moment of this precious life I have been given. Besides, who am I to squander this gift that God has granted, this miracle that I seem to live? What kind of person would I be to not rejoice at having been given one of the greatest lives a person has ever had?

Sure, it’s not what I expected life to be like, but at the same time it’s more than I expected life to be. For instance, I turned 21 in February, and it was a dream come true to celebrate with my family and friends in Viva Las Vegas. And trust me, what happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas. Then, in August, I started my fourth year of college. While sadly, I am not a senior, I am proud to tell you that I finally achieved sophomore status! Yea, only twelve more years till graduation! Along with this new identity came a switch in majors. I’m now majoring in English with a minor in math, and I am entertaining the idea of becoming a librarian. But there was one more major event in my life recently. In September, I received an award called the Hal O’Leary Inspiration Award given away by the Colorado Rockies Charity Foundation. The award is given to a person who has overcome great odds and inspires those in their community, and in all honesty, I was completely shocked when I received the news that I had been picked as this year’s recipient. To my surprise, I inspire. Laugh all you want, but I really had no idea how much my letters, my life, impact those around me. I’m simply living life one day at a time; receiving inspiration from those around me. My family and friends. You’re the ones who inspire me to keep going no matter how tough the situation is. It’s your award as well as mine.

It’s been ten years, and hopefully I’ll have ten more and ten more and ten more. But who knows what life holds for each of us. I have already been granted a second chance; a chance to become better person, a wiser person, and by my word, I mean to make the most of it. And this is what I say to you, my dear friends, see life for the miracle it is and can be. Know that each day we are granted second chances, chances to right wrongs we may have made, chances to be happy with what we have, chances to live and laugh and enjoy life, chances to tell those people in our lives how much we love them. A very smart man once said, “There are only two ways to live life- one as if nothing is a miracle and one as if everything is.” Life is a miracle. If you don’t believe that ask, Albert Einstein.

Happy 10^th Glad to Be Alive Day!

With love always,

Emily

For the original version of this letter, click here.

Below are pictures from Vegas: