Our Viewpoint: Focusing on those everyday milestones

When does a day matter? When does an hour matter?

Over the weekend I got to participate in a couple milestone birthdays. I attended Betty Meyer’s 100th birthday party at the Paradise Center. That same evening, I celebrated a close friend’s 50th birthday. Both milestones were worthy of joyous celebrations. As I drove home Saturday evening, however, it got me thinking about other milestones.

We celebrate “big” birthdays such as your 21st, 40th of 100th, and anniversaries such as your first, 25th and 50th. For many people, each day is a milestone.

Think about newborns. For an infant in the ICU, every hour is a milestone. As children grow, there are so many milestones to celebrate. First solid food, first step, first word, first day of school. Then you get to the milestone of high school graduation, which we recently celebrated in Sanders County.

In adulthood, the milestones seem further apart. There are first jobs, first houses, a few milestone birthdays, maybe a wedding, a divorce, and retirement. However, every day is worth celebrating.

Every day sober for someone in recovery is a milestone. Every day with your loved ones is a milestone and sometimes those final hours are the most precious.

It’s fun to celebrate milestone birthdays or events, but think about how great everyone would feel if we celebrated every day.

— Annie Wooden