Twenty Five Years

I am 25 years old.  I am a thousand years old. 

This was the year that I:

Finished my first year of grad school.

Planned a trip to Haiti.

Stood next to my sister-in-law while she married my brother.

Watched my blood counts drop.  Relapsed.  Almost got a bone marrow transplant.

Did not go to Haiti.

Lost my grandmother.

Moved home from Pittsburgh.  Took a semester off of grad school. 

Found out I’m going to be an aunt.

Started a blog.  And people read it. (THANK YOU!!!!)

Had chemo, again.  Recovered.  Watched my counts go back up.

Moved back to Pittsburgh.  Started grad school again, started working again. 

Watched my sister’s heart get smashed.  Watched my sister turn sorrow into strength and pain into beauty.

Became an aunt.  Learned how to hold a newborn. Fell in love with a teeny tiny human. 

I am 25 years old. I am a thousand years old.

I am tragedy.  I am hope.

I am fear. I am faith.

I am hypocrisy.  I am honesty. 

I am anxiety.  I am peace.

I am weakness.  I am strength.

I am sorrow.  I am joy.

I am despair and I am promise.  

I am 25 years old.  I am a thousand years old. 

And this is the year that I will:

Walk in my graduation ceremony with the same people I started the program with. 

Become Kelsey Allen, MPH

Give back the generosity that you all have shown me. 

And a whole lot more.  Who knows??? That's the beauty of health and youth; it lets your view of the future expand as far and as wide as the horizon.  And what an amazing gift that is. :)

This is my prayer in the harvest, when favor and providence flow

I know I’m filled to be emptied again

This seed I’ve received I will sow

Thank you for reading and walking on this journey with me.  I had no idea how much this blog would mean to me and what a lifeline it would become, but it certainly has. Here’s to the next year with hopefully a lot less platelet talk and a little more adventure. THANK YOU for all of your love and support!

Kelsey