It’s selfish, I guess, but your birthday is one of my favorite days of the year.

We will celebrate you in all the normal ways: vegan birthday cake, lots of hugs, obnoxiously loud sounds, gifts – but you have to know that those things could never tell you what you mean to us – how thankful we are for this day.

Because of you we dream bigger, love louder, and risk more. We run after our passions because you have the courage to tell us that we can; that we are never stuck; that we can do anything we set our minds to. And if you believe it, we believe it.

This year feels like a crucible year for our family – a year where change will define us and stretch us. And you do it all with a smile. You think of life as a choose-your-own-adventure kind of thing, and I’m so thankful for you.

Walking hand-in-hand through life with you, I feel capable of so much more. You fill in gaps that I didn’t even know I had. You make me a better mom, a better friend, a better person.

Happy Birthday, Graham. I love you so much.

(also teenage you would totally think you’re old right now. so there’s that.)