I have two birthdays - one is the date celebrating my birth, and the other is May 12, in remembrance of the day I didn't die in the deadly magnitude-8 earthquake that devastated Sichuan province in 2008.

Imagine your worst nightmare. Mine came true when so many beautiful lives were lost in the catastrophe.

Five years later, I take the opportunity to think about my own good luck and remind myself that I was among the fortunate souls when the temblor happened at 2:28 pm that day.