Personal

2020-08-19

For a few years I now celebrate my entire birthday week – not only my birthday.

Why?

First of all, I’ve had many suicidal thoughts thoughts during my bipolar disorder journey. Especially the first five years from 2000 to 2005.

Secondly, in my 30’s I was someone who didn’t really celebrate my birthday at all. When my Mom or brother would ask “what are you doing for your birthday?” I would normally say “nothing”. Sometimes I’d go out for supper or a drink with my brother or a buddy, however it was very low key.

Another reason that I now celebrate my birthday week is to model this for others going through a hard time…to give them hope. Hope that it is possible to lead a happy, healthy and mentally stable life despite being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

I’m truly grateful and fortunate to have had the support of my brother and friends in celebrating my birthday week!

Sunday
I met my friend Alanna at the Nordic Centre in Canmore. We went mountain biking on easy trails and biked side by side while talking pretty well the whole time. Her back was sore and this ended up being a blessing. If her back was 100% we would have been taking more technical trails riding single file and not talking near as much. During our time biking we stopped and had snacks at some beautiful viewpoints.

After getting back to Banff I met my friend Amelia and played tennis for a little while. It was great to hit the ball around after not doing so for a couple of years! She hadn’t played in a while either. I used to play a lot in high school and in my early 20’s.

Monday
I treated myself to a double scoop ice cream cone at Cows here in Banff. The bottom scoop was “Ooey-gooey” which is a chocolate chunk/maple mixed with vanilla ice cream. The top scoop was “PEI strawberry”.

Thursday
Thursday June 7 was my actual birthday. This year it was truly a wonderful day! My day started hiking Moose Meadows trail to the Ink Pots with my friend Annie. I often refer to her as my “2nd Mom”. Neither of us had hiked the Moose Meadows trail and we were fortunate to have the trail to ourselves. After the hike we enjoyed a relaxing spa afternoon at the Fairmont Banff Springs Willow Stream Spa. They graciously extended the local’s rate to Annie (she lives in Calgary). The two of us and six other friends then had supper on the patio at MacLab Bistro at the Banff Centre. I really enjoyed my birthday dinner with Annie, Tyler, Sam, Andrew, Saki, Amelia and Jim. Fantastic conversations and fun! Tyler and Sam bought me a tasty dessert, and a friend (I know who!) kindly paid for my supper during the meal. After supper I went back to the spa for the last 45 minutes and celebrated on my own my first day of being 45.