Anne Miller: Birthday Blessings

I can’t remember how old I was when I first realized how special and precious it is to share a birthday with two of my close family members, my Nana and Cousin, but I can tell you that there isn’t a year that goes by that I don’t count my blessings.

Every year on my birthday, my mother tells me the story of how she called my Nana on her birthday to wish her a happy birthday and to tell her the good news that she had a new granddaughter. For 35 years, my Nana and I have been celebrating together and always start our new year off together, holding hands, and making wishes while blowing out the candles. It’s our little tradition and a day I treasure with all my heart. Having each other to celebrate our day is truly the ultimate gift.

We've had some really memorable birthdays, my Nana's favorite being when my mom and her siblings surprised us with a private flying lesson that took us around Hartford. My Nana's dream has always been to fly a plane, mine...well, not so much! I'm pretty terrified of flying, especially a small personal plane but am pretty lucky to have experienced it together.

This past Sunday, Nana turned 93! As she likes to say, age does not matter as long as you are happy and healthy. I have learned so much about celebrating life from my Nana. She means everything to me and spending our birthdays celebrating, laughing, and making new memories is all I ever want for my birthday. She is my most precious gift. She is what makes my birthday so special and every year I wish for the same thing and every year I'm thankful it keeps coming true.

We have a great collection of pictures from our celebrations throughout the years, I cherish them all. The middle image is from this past Sunday, July 26, our birthday :).

Cheers to many more Nana, you make 93 look marvelous :). Love you birthday girl!