Today is Callie’s fourth birthday. She’s been talking about this day for months.

Callie wanted pink cupcakes to share with her classmates. Those are ready. Callie’s nurse Marsha gave Callie some restaurant gift cards so we could go to one of Callie’s favorite restaurants. Most of her presents are wrapped. One of the teachers at her preschool made a snowman cake.

But Callie has been getting weaker over the past few days, and yesterday (Monday) she started coughing a lot, and she has a runny nose.

This always seems so sudden and unexpected to us. We’re hoping this is just a minor cold that we can fight off over the next few days. But we know, too, that Callie is very weak and vulnerable.

Today is her birthday. Over the past four years Callie has taught us how to adapt our plans to what’s really important, and that’s what we’ll do today. Instead of going to school we’ll see about dropping by just for cupcakes. We will enjoy take out if Callie is too tired to go out.

We’ll have a good day, but we’re also worried. So we ask those who are inclined to send up a prayer for our birthday girl.

Happy birthday, Callie!

Callie is doing great. For the first time, she was really excited about Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve as we put her in bed, her head was shaking back and forth non-stop. That’s one of the main ways she shows her excitement.

Callie lives a good life. She talks almost all the time at home. She’s a little more shy in public, but not much.

She’s become a pro with her power wheelchair. She can maneuver it through tight aisles at the grocery store. The chair has a horn, and she hasn’t quite learned good horn etiquette. She and her 5-year-old brother Peter are quick to honk the horn at people who stop in the aisles.

We stay busy just taking care of Callie’s daily needs and the needs of her three older brothers. So we do not have much time to think about the future.

But the new year that begins tomorrow naturally brings thoughts about the next 12 months. Callie is so vulnerable. There’s always the possibility that she will catch a cold or a virus that she can’t get over. Will this be the year?

Those aren’t thoughts that we dwell on. We’ve gotten pretty good at thinking about only the present. In the present, all members of our family are here with us. We have food to eat and a safe place to live. Nothing else really matters that much.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those whose lives are incomplete in this new year.

We also cannot begin to thank the people who have shared so much to help our family over the past year.

Happy new year.