Happy Monday everyone! Today is my birthday and I am… er… thirty something years old. Whenever it is your birthday it is only appropriate to reflect back on birthdays gone by. So today I will take you back — not so very long ago, mind you — to my thirtieth birthday.
Adrian and Me. Do you see the family resemblance? Ha!
My thirtieth birthday party was awesome, as all thirtieth birthday parties should be. My brother Adrian came to visit from Oklahoma, my friends Flora and Cathy took me out to dinner, and then we all had a big ol’ party at a really fun bar in New York (I was living in NYC at the time).
Me, my eyelash gems, and Flora Chao (one third of my trio of besties)
Despite the party, and the fun, and the awesome eye makeup (yes, I have little gems on my eyelashes), turning thirty was really tough. I had just gone through a divorce and was single for the first time in my adult life. To celebrate my milestone birthday alone, for the first time without my husband, was incredibly painful. Divorce makes you question who you are. It makes you reevaluate everything in your life. It makes you doubt yourself and your decisions. And turning thirty amid all of that was really awful.
I know at QuikHelp we sometimes poke fun at divorce. (QuikHelp\’s Mini-Movie \”Help, Help I Need A Divorce Too!\” by AnthonyRyanMediaTV) But I know how serious it is, too. Having gone through it all myself (without an attorney, by the way) I know exactly what it feels like. That’s why every birthday since my thirtieth birthday I look back on that day. Every time I turn a year older I take a moment to look back on that newly-thirty version of me, and reflect.
Since my divorce, I have rebuilt myself and my life and I am happy with me now. I have managed to surround myself with wonderful friends, here in Tucson and in New York. I have the love and support of the most amazing, quirky, hilarious group of fun-loving family members a girl could ask for. My work gives me little blessings every day and allows me to help people who don’t have anywhere else to turn. I am a very lucky girl. Put all of that together, and this year I can very truly and honestly look me in the mirror this morning and say “Happy Birthday to Me”.
With love today and always,
Tannya
