Today I turn 46, and I want to spend a few minutes saying thank you.

There was a time in my life when I could not picture a birthday like this one. I could not picture much of anything past the next day. So I do not take this morning for granted. I woke up in my own home, in a city I love, next to my husband, with two boxers who think every day is a holiday. One of them, Alfie, actually shares this birthday with me. He turns one today. We are celebrating together, and he is definitely getting the better snacks.

I am grateful for my family, who loved me through the hardest years and never stopped believing I could come out the other side. I am grateful for my friends, the ones who show up without being asked and tell me the truth even when I do not want to hear it.

I am grateful for the recovery community. You saved my life. Everything I have been able to do since, every book, every campaign, every fight, exists because people who barely knew me decided I was worth helping. I try to pay that forward every single day, and I still feel like I am behind on the debt.

I am grateful for the people of Las Vegas and this state. Over the past months, you have opened your doors, shared your stories, and trusted me with the things that keep you up at night. That trust is not something I earned by default. It is something I intend to keep earning.

And I am grateful for second chances. Not just mine. I believe in them for everyone, because I know firsthand what a person can become when someone refuses to give up on them.

I do not know what 46 holds. I know it will include hard days, because every year does. But I also know I am not walking through any of it alone, and that is the greatest gift I have ever been given.

Thank you for being part of this life. I mean that with everything I have.

With gratitude,
Ryan