Today, my ex-fiancée that abandoned my daughter and me and broke all ties with us for almost a decade, is also the kidney donor that saved my life last year. MMT

Today, an elderly man in his 70’s enrolled in my entry level computer programming class at the University of Miami. He’s a retired, wealthy, ex-business owner in the technology sector. I asked him why he decided to start studying again, and he replied, “I just thought, what does one do between now and the end? I figured I might as well learn something new that interests me.” MMT

Today, I own a party business for which I regularly dress up as a clown to entertain kids. This morning I was hired to visit and cheer up a young girl in the hospital who was recovering from severe burns (from a house fire) that covered her entire body. After I finished my hour long session with her, during which she smiled the entire time, I spent a half hour outside in the hospital parking lot crying… for her. MMT

Today, my friend who works at the police dispatch called to tell me that the drunk driver who killed my daughter nine years ago was killed in a drunk driving accident. He was sober and on his way home from work when I drunk driver hit him. MMT

Today, as my grandfather and I looked at old family photos together, including photos of my late grandmother, my grandfather said, “Nothing in this world is permanent. But don’t let that stop you from appreciating and loving what you have while you have it.” MMT

Today, I was patiently waiting for a shaded parking spot at the mall when a guy cut me off and stole the parking spot I had been waiting for with my blinker on. I let it go and just parked farther out in an non-shaded spot. While I was shopping, a windy, loud thunder storm passed over the area. When I left the mall, a huge fallen tree branch had crushed the roof of the guy’s car who stole my spot. MMT

Today, I was at the grocery store when I saw a little girl being pulled through the store by a scruffy looking man. The little girl looked confused, and it just didn’t look right to me. So I ran up beside them and asked her if she knew the man. She said “no!” and then he started pulling her even faster. I screamed, “Help! Don’t let that man get away! That’s not his daughter! He’s kidnapping her!” He dropped her hand and ran out of the store. The manager then called her parents over the loud speaker. They had just realized their daughter was missing and were looking for her at the other side of the store. When the manager explained what happened, they paid for my groceries. MMT

Today, I was looking through some old files on a laptop computer that my dad used six years ago before he passed away from cancer. The computer has been sitting around collecting dust at my mom’s house ever since. In a folder named ‘Video Project’ oddly placed at the root of the C: drive, I found a video file my dad made about a month before he passed that my mom and I had never seen before. In the video my dad talks about me and my mom, how grateful he is to have had the chance to a be part of our lives, and that he has no regrets at all about anything in his life – that he is totally at peace. He ended by saying, “I know you two will miss me, but please smile for me, because I’m okay.” MMT

Today, I got mugged just over the border in Tijuana, Mexico. As he waved a gun, the mugger demanded I give him all the cash I had, so I gave him the $80 I had on me. As the mugger was running away I saw something bounce out of his pocket about 15 feet away from me. It turned out to be a rolled up wad of US cash totaling $2706, I picked it up and quickly walked to the immigration checkpoint and back across the US border to safety. MMT

Today, I unbuckled my seatbelt (I’m passionate about wearing my seatbelt) for two seconds so I could reach a printed map and directions sitting on the other side of the passenger seat. Just as I leaned over to grab it, I hit a big bump in the road and then my windshield shattered as a steel pipe that was hanging on the work truck driving in front of me shot, like a missile, through my windshield and directly into the center of the driver’s seat. I slammed on the brakes and crawled out of the passenger door. The cops that arrived at the scene couldn’t believe it either – there was an 8 foot steel pipe embedded into the driver’s seat, and it didn’t touch me. MMT

Today, she was only comfortable giving, so she only found people who knew how to take. She was only comfortable in familiar places, so she never met anyone new. She shopped on Fridays, washed the car on Mondays, and every day blended into the next. Yet she still asks me how it could be, that she should be unhappy in her comfortable life. MMT

Today, my 16-year-old foster child, Jay, received a visit from his biological mom – a woman that has been in and out of jail and rehab her whole life. Although I was a bit reluctant about it, I let them talk in the family room alone, and I eavesdropped from the kitchen just to make sure everything was okay. Jay’s mom was extremely rough around the edges and almost immediately started bringing up hurtful memories from the past, and then told Jay, “I wish I could go back in time and raise you again, to change who you are and give you a better upbringing.” Just as I was about to walk into the room to interject, Jay calmly said, “I’m perfectly fine. I’m proud of who I am. Maybe you should go farther back in time and change who you are instead.” And then he walked her to the front door and politely asked her to leave. MMT

Today, as I was driving on an icy mountain rode with my little brother, I lost control of the car and it skidded straight down the road toward a sharp right turn without a guardrail. There was a 200+ foot drop below. My entire life flashed before my eyes; I thought for sure my brother and I were going to die. But when the front of our car was about six feet from the edge, a car traveling the opposite direction came around the sharp turn and t-boned us while going about 30 mph… which was fast enough to knock our car off course and keep us on the road three feet from the edge, and slow enough that nobody was seriously injured. MMT

Today, the ‘friends’ who invited me to the party are the same ones who gave me the drugs and left me there to die. The kid I picked on and called a nerd and a freak for the last two years is the one who drove me to the hospital. MMT

Today, at 10PM on Christmas Eve a nurse wearing scrubs came into the gas station where I work. Making small talk, she mentioned that she was on her way to work for a night shift. “It sucks you have to work on Christmas,” I said. “Oh, well I'm just grateful that I’m next to the hospital bed this evening instead of in it,” she replied. MMT

Today, it’s been seven years my parents kicked me out of their house for choosing a different faith. I’ve had barely any contact with them since, and have only heard from them recently due to my grandfather’s death. This morning I received a call from my grandfather’s attorney. Apparently I'm the only member of the family who was not fighting over the inheritance while he was still alive. Even though our family is fairly large, he left me over half of his estate, including his prized collection of vintage cars. MMT

Today was my best friend Lara’s funeral. She was 15. Although her family could've focused on their loss, they did the opposite. Today was a huge celebration of her life. The first thing her mother said during Lara’s eulogy is, “I’m happy to tell you that 10 people have been given Lara's donated organs. And I was told this evening, by a doctor friend in the know, that at least 4 of these people received a full second chance at life because of Lara’s decision to be a donor. Even in her passing, my daughter finds a way to make me proud.” Seeing her family be so positive today MMT.

Today, I was driving home from the doctor's office today after a not-so-great diagnosis, and it must have shown on my face that I was upset, because as I was stopped at a red light a guy in the car next to me rolled down his window and signaled for me to roll down mine. When I rolled down my window he said, “Smile, seriously. You're beautiful!” I smiled, and then as we both drove away, I cried. That stranger's kindness keeps me hopeful and MMT.

Today, a bullet shot from an insurgent standing roughly 50 meters to my right clipped the edge of my sunglasses, knocking them off of my face without even gazing my skin. I leave Afghanistan tomorrow morning as planned, for good. MMT

Today, when I told him, "I'm unsure of how I feel about it," he said, “When I go out to eat, it isn’t called ‘gay lunch.’ When I teach college physics, it isn’t called ‘gay physics.’ When I donate money to charity, they don’t call it a ‘gay donation.’ When I get married, why can’t it just be ‘marriage?’” MMT

Today, as I cried in my best friend’s arms after I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me, I said, “Love hurts.” “No, love doesn’t hurt,” she replied. “Lying, cheating and screwing with people’s feelings and emotions hurts.” MMT

Today, like I have every Sunday for the past year, I visited my mom's grave. But today, while I was telling her about my son's birthday party, I actually started laughing out loud because I knew she would have thought my story was hilarious. It was the first time I've had a taste of the fun and laughter we used to share before she passed. MMT

Today, in line at the bank a little boy, no older than 6, walked up to an elderly man wearing a U.S. Army cap who was in line in front of me, looked up at him and asked, “Did you fight in a war to protect us?” When the elderly man said he did the little boy hugged his leg and said, “So did my daddy. Thank you.” MMT

Today, I returned home from a 10 month tour of duty in Afghanistan. I went directly to my sister’s house to see my two nephews. My mom, dad, and fiancée surprised me by meeting me over there. They all took part in cooking a delicious family dinner to celebrate my safe return. After dinner, as we were all sitting in the family room watching a movie, I held my baby nephew in my arms and looked around the room at all the people I love. And I couldn’t help but think about how lucky we are. 36 hours ago I was helping deliver food to starving families in the Afghan desert and dodging bullets on the drive back to base. MMT