Today is Damn Glad to Be Alive Day!
A little backstory:
On February 6, 1995, I was working as a production resident for Playwrights Horizons, an off-Broadway theatre company in New York City. We were in technical rehearsals for a new musical called “Jack’s Holiday,” (about Jack the Ripper—don’t ask), and the master electrician asked if I would run out and get her some lunch.
A few minutes later, as I was standing in the crosswalk on 42nd Street at 9th Avenue on my way to get her lunch, a tall truck turned in front of me. Its back door, unlatched, swung open and hit me in the head. I was knocked to the street, where I hit the other side of my head. I was taken from the scene of the accident straight to the ER of a nearby hospital, severely concussed.
I don’t remember any of this, and the weeks and months following is very hazy. I remember friends coming to my apartment to see how I was doing, and my mother flying up to New York to collect me and take me home to recuperate.
But one clear thought I remember having within 24 hours after the accident was: “I am going to celebrate this day every year. It’s Damn Glad to Be Alive Day.”
Lots of people have a Before time and an After time. Before the accident, and After. Before the diagnosis, and After. Before the [life-changing incident] and After. This was mine. For many people, the life-changing incident serves as a kind of jolt to the system, a “hey, I may not be here forever after all” kind of wake-up call. They take stock of their lives, maybe make some changes.
I was pretty young when this happened to me, and I hadn’t had quite enough time to travel along a life path I suddenly saw that I wanted to change. So instead, the accident and its aftermath have been an ongoing practice in gratitude.
On this day, every year, I am grateful that I’m still around. I’m grateful that I have gotten to learn and experience so much more than I even knew existed then, that I have grown and changed and reckoned with mistakes. I have met so many people, been so many places, read so many books. I have fallen in love with my husband and had our two children. I have gotten to be an entrepreneur and an author, to discover a love for college basketball (go Heels!) and for birdwatching.
My favorite thing about Damn Glad to Be Alive Day is that it’s for everyone. I celebrate it today, and I invite you to celebrate, too! Today, or whenever makes sense for you.
Happy Damn Glad to Be Alive Day!
