Today is Kaitlyn’s birthday!

Today is a special day, because today is Kaitlyn’s birthday! In fact, today would have been her 30th birthday. I had the fortune of being with her for 10 of them and every one of them was truly special. I’ve been thinking about her past birthdays a lot this week. I’ve tried to remember all the gifts that I bought for her. Most of the time I would get her something she had been wanting, but in addition to that, I would always give her a Pandora charm that was significant to that year in some way.

I’ve thought about all the different ways we’ve celebrated. When she turned 21, I had a cake made for her that looked like an appletini! At her 19th birthday party, all the guys let the girls paint our faces like the band KISS, because it was kind of a “Rock Band” party! As I think about it now though, there’s not really a reason that’s good enough to have allowed that to happen!

I’ve been thinking about how even though she’s gone, we still feel compelled to celebrate her in some way. Obviously, our plans for today look a lot different than when she was with us, but being together and celebrating her makes the day a little easier to bear, I think. We want to celebrate her life, the fact that we got to be with her for a time, and the legacy that she left behind.