I flew into Accra, Ghana, yesterday. I am here to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday, which was on 3/7. I'm here with my sister, my cousin Marc, and his wife Ashley. After my mother retired last year, my sister and I asked her how she wanted to spend her 80th birthday, and she replied that she wanted to go on a trip. Mind you, our mother is an avid traveler. She has traveled worldwide: Europe, Africa, Hawaii, and Australia, to name a few. After a few months of consideration, she informed us that she wanted to spend her 80th birthday in Ghana.

Not long after she told us her destination, she began to put the travel plan into motion. Marc and Ashely live in Charlotte, North Carolina, for part of the year and Accra for the other part. Marc is my cousin and godbrother; his parents, Aunt Marsha, and Uncle Chance, are my godparents. Marc and my mother have a super special bond; they are world travelers, collect art, and are tremendous gardeners.

This trip is a special moment of celebration for our family. I (as are my Sister, Marc and Ashley) am blessed to see my mother in her 80th year with good health in body, mind, and soul. I am incredibly grateful for this moment.

My mother and I have spent the last two years in adult family therapy, tackling the hard things, the dark corners, reimagining what it means to be mother and daughter to each other, and surfacing our vulnerabilities. Our relationship is stronger and more fortified because of it, and I am a better human because of it.

This trip is my first time in Ghana and Africa. The trip has been long overdue in many ways, but I am also here at the right time. Being here with my mom and my sister, I feel content. I am neither looking to my past nor my future. I am present, and because of this, I am grateful.

Happy 80th birthday Ma!