This past Thursday I turned 21.

21st Birthdays are notorious for being messy, drunken marathons. Now I'm not going to pretend that I didn't have a few drinks but I was much more tame than I could have been. This birthday felt different, it felt transitional, like this was the start of adulthood. That might seem silly considering I have an entire year left of my undergrad but it truly felt like this was the first step towards being fully independent. This feels incredible and terrifying all at the same time.

When I was born I was a seemingly healthy and happy baby. My parents would soon learn that I was not healthy at all, I had a life threatening heart condition that was progressing quickly. My parents had me young at age 23, and 25 they had no real grasp on the journey they were about to embark on. Over the following days I would have open heart surgery to repair three major defects. Following the surgery I would not only struggle getting off of bypass but I would eventually flatline and code. To say they weren't prepared for everything that was about the be thrown at them would be a severe understatement. But nonetheless they fought for my life every step of the way. They didn't get to take me home from the hospital until a month after my surgery. They had to sit by my bedside where I had 46 tubes and wires attached to me (they counted) for over thirty days. But they fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself. They are the reason that I get up everyday and fight my own fight now.

As the years went on they would see me through a number of other conditions. Some life-threatening and some minor, but they attacked each doctor's appointment, scan, and ER visit the same way. They rallied behind me in order to ensure that I got the best medical care available to me. Fast forward to the birth of my little sister, she was healthy and vibrant. Whenever she was diagnosed with similar conditions to what I have I knew that we would all rally behind her. My family is made up of fighters and survivors.

Every year when my birthday rolls around my parents seem giddy. They know how close I was to not making it to my first birthday let alone my twenty first. There is no way to thank them for giving me the life I was so close to losing but I try my best to thank them everyday. I make a point to facetime my family everyday when I'm away at school. People think I'm crazy and that my family is clingy, but they are wrong. My family is team. After they thought they'd never see my face again they have a right to see it everyday. They are my world and I love them.