Happy Birthday, Joshua!

I know that you are not much of a birthday person. I jump up and down when it’s still days away, but to you it is nothing more than just another 365 days around the sun. But to me, birthdays are important and so is your birthday. And though I can’t be with you today, and you probably won’t feel very much like a birthday boy: today is the day that you turned 18! Eight and ten, the year of change. You’re officially ‘grown-up’ now, you’re officially studying medicine at a university and you are, which I know you love, allowed to vote. All these cool things that you suddenly are allowed to do, all these people seeing you as an actual grown-up, that’s really awesome.

So enjoy! And be grateful for the years that you have been given already. The wonderful years, and especially that last one. Count your blessings and see that they are actually too much to count. Eighteen years of blessings, eighteen years of laughter, joy, happiness, wonder, gratefulness, togetherness and eighteen years of love, and I hope – so many more of these years to come (:

Happy birthday, sweet Joshua. I love you <3