Tonight, at a very later hour (9pm), we were finally able to get together to celebrate the anniversary of my stroke. It is a birthday of sorts, and I am blessed that it didn’t happen on my birthday (sorry Brad) because I get to have TWO celebrations a year! AND…..tonight we all went to my favorite restaurant Charleston’s were we had a nice dinner, a couple of “Perfect Margaritas,” and where Ben put on a show. It was quite a time.

Of course I do not consider these days real birthdays or reasons to celebrate, as much as I consider each day a blessing. I am the oldest of five, with just three of us living, and watching our two sisters die from cancer, I know what a blessing and gift each day is. In the late 1980’s while living in Florida, my doctors thought I had liver cancer, and it allowed me to examine my whole life. And believe me, when you suddenly can’t think straight, spell, talk right, or control your emotions when not remembering the event itself AT ALL, you count your blessings for every minute. I am truly a fortunate man.

Ironically, I had not ever even had a margarita till 2004. My sister Sarah loved them, and she and my mom would go out for Mexican food and have one together. I had my first when she was first diagnosed with cancer, and I cannot have one at all without thinking of the two of them. So….as we raised our glasses tonight and toasted, I was thinking of them, and though I miss them, am pleased to know that the Lord has chosen to have the three of us not toast in person….yet.

I still have a lot to do, and I am glad for the opportunity to do. My life is filled with many blessings, and tonight I am thankful for them all.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+