"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." - Maya Angelou

Birthdays, anniversaries and holidays are obvious dates to celebrate. Bake a cake, light the candles, sing a song, gather together, toast to life. But what do we do with the dates that remind us not of what we have, but of all we lost? How should we treat those anniversaries?

For my family and me, one such date is January 17th.

On that date 35 years ago, I was burned on 100% of my body.

We all face fires in life; we all get burned.

Ultimately whether our life story is an epic to celebrate or a tragedy to mourn has surprisingly little to do with the events within our lives and far more to do with the manner in which we respond to those events.