Thoughts on turning 32

Three years ago I received this in my email, and sent it on to a few friends. I also received an updated version the following year. It's a touching, haunting letter that I thought I would share. I will be glad to post attribution if anyone knows who is responsible for creating the letter:

Dear friend,

This week I turn 32. It's hard to believe. How time flies. January 22, 1973 seems like so long ago. I'm the oldest in my family. It’s a pretty big family, but I'll explain that later.

If you're a baby boomer, you probably don't think much of my generation -- Gen X. But that's because we're a threat to you! My generation is changing the world! Just think of all that has happened in the world these past 32 years...

The end of Vietnam. Watergate. Jimmy Carter. Actually, I don't remember much from the 70s, since I was just entering elementary school when Ronald Reagan became president.

I loved the 80s. That's when I grew up, but I had no idea just how much the world was changing.

Then, the Berlin Wall fell. I'll never forget that day in November 1989. I was 16 and on top of the world. I can remember my history teacher telling me that the world would never be the same. He was right.

Then, something even more dramatic developed. The Internet. If you want to understand me and my generation, then go online. When I was in college, a few of my friends saw it coming. We helped start a revolution online. And don't believe it when they say the Internet bubble has burst. The only thing that has burst is the old way of doing business.

Now there are no boundaries for people like me. The sky is truly the limit! I got married three years ago to a beautiful and loving woman, and we're expecting our first child in three months. A new generation begins...

Yes, life is good. Except for one problem.

You see, I wasn't actually born on January 22, 1973. In fact, I wasn't born at all.

I never was given the chance to take even that first breath...never mind the 406 million breaths that would have followed over these 32 years.

Not a single breath.

That's because of something else that happened on January 22,1973.

Seven justices made a decision that would dramatically affect my life... and the lives of 40 million others who would never take a breath.

That's my family. And it's growing every day. In fact, in the next 24 hours the family of abortion victims will grow by about as many people who died when the World Trade Center buildings collapsed.

The 9-11 cleanup concluded after nearly a year, but our cleanup--the one from 1-22 continues.

And to think it was all based on a lie. Jane "Roe" of Roe v. Wade was lied to. And so were you -- if you believed even for a moment that the mass of tissue wasn't a human life.

That mass of tissue was me!

My goal here isn't to make you feel guilty. Rather, think of me... or what could have been me... the next time the topic of abortion comes up.

Think of me graduating from high school and going to college. Think of me getting married and having children. Think of me celebrating my birthday this Saturday with family and friends.

Think of me turning 32.