Laurent's 20 NEW Birthday.

On the 4th of July, I posted this picture of us celebrating Laurent's 20th NEW birthday (20 years since his motorcycle accident on July 4, 1998).  See my post "A Neu Birthday or a NEW Birthday" to see how and why we decided to celebrate this anniversary.

As I posted the picture, many thoughts swirled around in my head and I felt I wanted to write a bit more about this time.  First of all, let me acknowledge to anyone that has a traumatic anniversary that this date still conjures up painful feelings of grief, loss, heartache, and even  a bit of discouragement.  We will have been married 26 years on the 24th of this month, and 20 of those years a traumatic brain injury (TBI) has also been our companion.  Those who have been acquainted with this thief, know how it robs life and steals joy.  However, two years ago, I was taught a lesson that has helped me look past the grief and loss and try to focus on gratitude and celebrate the true moments in life that exist, the moments that TBI could not take away from us.  In looking back on the incredible journey of the last 20 years, I realized just how many beautiful moments in life we have been able to experience that we would not have had Laurent passed away in that accident.

My first thoughts when to some big moments in Laurent's life since the accident.  Singing the solo to Betelehemu with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Carnegie Hall in 2015 and again in Europe in 2016 stood out first.  

Or there's the time in 2011 that Laurent got to sing at the  22nd annual Families and Professionals Conference sponsored by the Brain Injury Association of Utah with Michael Ballam. You can watch a video of the performance below by skipping to minute 11 of the video.

And while those are incredible moments and experiences in our life that brought great joy that we will never forget, they are not the experiences in our life since 1998 that matter most. To me the moments we are most grateful for relate to family relationships.  Laurent was there to baptize both our son and our daughter.  He was able to celebrate their birthdays with them.  He played with the kids on family vacations each summer. He teased them with pillow fights and towel fights..  He came to high school and college graduation ceremonies. In looking back over the last 20 years, our life has been filled with a series of "little moments" that fill our life with joy and help to compensate for the sad ones.  We have been blessed to have Laurent's smiling face and warm-hearted personality with us!