July 11th was a special day on a couple different fronts for me.  First of all, it was my birthday.  I’ve never been one for doing huge birthday celebrations – even when I was drinking I didn’t go too hard at it – but I do recognize the blessing and spirituality involved in being given another year of life.  In light of that recognition, I’ve always had a more reflective relationship with my own birthday than celebratory.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy the process, I just feel awkward about trying to make things too much about me, and I’m definitely not they type of person who does the “birthday week” thing.