The best birthday

I do not intend to spend the entire coming year in constant comparison to my year spent fighting Cancer 2.0, but yesterday's flashbacks were inevitable. The contrasts were too sharp; my 57th birthday was glorious, especially in comparison to birthday number 56.

Last year's birthday pointed toward a difficult and uncertain future. I had just learned the fast-growing lump in my abdomen was probably cancer, and my surgeon was calling for more tests rather than a quick excision. Tom and I had a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant but the evening was more fitful than festive. While awaiting doctors' findings, I had not shared news of my lump with family and friends, so my support system was not yet activated.

The love, prayers and good wishes that carried me through this past year all flowed back to me yesterday, reminding me that I did not go through my battle alone. Birthday wishes conveyed in e-mails, on posts to my Facebook page, through telephone calls and in hallways at work conveyed deeper meaning this year. I felt again the outpouring of human spirit that buoyed me up during low times of the previous 12 months.

To top off a great start to a new year, Tom and I went with my lifelong best friend and her husband to see the Cincinnati Reds finish a home series by sweeping the Astros. In a wonderful surprise, my friend had arranged a birthday greeting to me on the scoreboard at the end of the third inning. The 10,000-plus fans at the game who might have seen it had no idea how special a birthday it really was.