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On December 29^th, 2020, my life changed forever.  Whether I knew it or not, my son’s birth would become the most dramatic life-altering event I would come to know, and quite possibly will ever know.  It was like a lightbulb went off in my head, that there is something more to a birthday than just having cake and getting presents.  On that day, its meaning became much deeper.

As an avid blogger at the time, I posted all about it (The Significance of a Birthday), adding bits of humor as is typical of the Grizzly Chadams style.  But somehow through the silliness, I managed to churn out the following poem:

The Significance of a Birthday:

It is a day of remembrance.

A day to reflect on nine months spent inside your mother’s womb.  It is a day to remember the nurturing, hard work, and sacrifice that took place, all in preparation for your delivery.  The hours spent in labor, risking one’s life to ensure the sanctity of another.  A day to remember, after all the anguish, discomfort, and sleep deprivation, the overwhelming joy of seeing your face for the very first time.

It is a day of triumph.  That against all odds, you developed from a few cells into the person you are today.  It is a reminder, a living example of the miracle of life.

It is a day of reflection.  We reflect on your greatest successes, the lessons you’ve learned, and the times you fell, only to pick yourself back up again.  We reflect on the person you’ve become, the progress you’ve made, and the endless opportunities ahead of you.

It is a time to remember that on that day, the world would be forever changed.

Your birthday… the day you entered the world.  The day you forever changed our lives.  A day of intense pain and depleted energy, exerted for the sole purpose of giving you life.

A day to remember it was all worth it.

So, for that, we celebrate.  Because among all things, the day of your birth is one worth celebrating.

Though I was pleased with the result, I wasn’t sure how it would reach an audience past my Facebook friends and Instagram followers (which isn’t particularly large).  But soon, I would find out that my mom was making personalized cards for her friends’ birthdays with the poem on them.  It wouldn’t be much longer that I received a message from her with an idea.  “Hey, you should turn this into a children’s book!”

I really liked where her head was going, but quickly learned that when you have a newborn, coupled with moving to another country, starting on a new career path, navigating a new culture and learning its language (all through the throws of the COVID-19 pandemic I’ll add you), that life gets in the way pretty quickly!  So, I sat on it for a while, almost hoping somebody would come along, see it, and do all the hard work for me.  Eventually, that yearning caught up to me and I came to the realization that if it was going to happen, I had to suck it up and do it myself.

So, I bought myself a book appropriately titled, “How to Self-Publish a Children’s Book,” and got to work.  I followed the steps, creating an illustrator’s brief, book specs, and an art release form among other documents.  I learned through trial by error about book formatting and took a crash course in the amazon publishing process.  I put together a job posting, sifted through about 75 applicants, and ended up hiring a Ukrainian Illustrator, which, thanks to the war, turned a 3-month job into 9 months, much longer than either of us had originally anticipated.  And now, almost 4 years later, my first book is ready and available for the masses!

Looking back, I really have no recollection of writing the original poem.  Nothing of the concept, the structure, how it would flow, or even a thought that it would turn into a book and make me a children’s book author.  The crazy thing is, I have a novel that I’ve been working on for north of a decade that I was sure would be my first book!  But, somehow through divine intervention, not only was I able to perfectly encapsulate all the thoughts on my son’s birth, parenthood, and how special that moment was in such a succinct manner, but I was able to take that vision and turn it into picture.  And the more that time passes and I get to watch my kids grow, the more it becomes true, almost as if the Holy Spirit was moving through me to write something beyond my comprehension.

As I write this, there’s a temptation to expand on my thoughts of birthdays, parenthood, and the rest.  For if given the freedom, I could probably write several pages on the topic now (and if you’ve ever read any of my blogs, you probably know what I’m talking about).  But, for everyone’s sake, I’m going to resist, because in the back of my head, I know that because this book does this so concisely, any further explanation would weaken the message.

So, what are my hopes for this?  Well, if it made me a million dollars and allowed me to retire early, that would be a dream come true.  However, more importantly, if it changes the heart of a reader, brightens their day/week/month/year/life, and helps them realize how important they are, I’ll gladly take that.  If it helps a struggling parent remember the beauty of the role they play and to keep carrying on, then that’s worth more than any financial reward I could reap.  And, if there’s anybody out there who’s terrified of being a parent, or perhaps have received some unexpected news and have some doubts about themselves (something I’m sure all of us first time parents have felt), and after reading this they say, “I got this…” then, praise the Good Lord.

Below are some excerpts of the book, and if it’s something you think is worth 12 bucks (or 4 bucks for an e-version), then please consider purchasing a copy, and especially consider supporting an up-and-coming author.  If it turns out that this was something you really enjoyed, then please leave a review on Amazon so I can help get them algorithm to like me more (and if it you thought it was just so so, then I would ask that you exaggerate just a little 😉).  And most importantly, if you received some enjoyment out of it, please consider buying a copy for somebody for their birthday and sharing the message with them.

Because at the end of the day, what better gift idea is there than a copy of this book 😉😉😉?

Get the full book by visiting the link below:

The Significance of a Birthday

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the sample pages, and I look forward to receiving your feedback.

God Bless!

-Zack