You won’t recognize Jennifer Aniston in this adorable throwback pic she posted to celebrate her own birthday

Happy 54th birthday, Jennifer Aniston!

To celebrate her own big day, Jennifer, whose fans lost it when she debuted a new hair transformation, posted an adorable throwback photo on Instagram, where she looks completely unrecognizable - unsurprising, considering she’s just a little girl in the shot.

The sentimental, sepia-toned image is one of her with her parents, John Aniston and Nancy Dow, who have both passed away in the last few years.

"Thinking about these two humans that created me as I bask in the afterglow of a beautiful birthday🎈," Jennifer captioned the upload. "Thank you ALL for my beautiful birthday wishes. I felt sooooo much love from so many and ALL of it is going to carry me through this wild and beautifully unknown year ahead. I love you! ❤️🌸😘🙏🏼♒️"

Fans and fellow celebrities took to the social media platform to wish Jennifer a happy birthday and express their love for The Morning Show star. 

"Happy Birthday, you beautiful tush!!!," wrote her friend Chelsea Handler. "I’m glad you are surrounded by such love."

Actresses Kate Hudson and Leslie Mann opted for a simple, "❤️," while Rita Wilson commented, "Such a touching photo…."

In the past, Jennifer has opened up about the special relationship she shared with her mother and father and the lessons she learned from them throughout the years.

"My mother was always so healthy and beautifully fit when I was a kid. I’ve always had that as my foundation," the actress said to Vogue  in 2021. "We weren’t allowed to have all of the fun cereals my friends had. When I got older, I went off the rails and I would eat pizza—and Wonder Bread. That was my version of rebellion, not drugs or alcohol. I wanted to eat some yummy food that was filled with crap! And then I noticed that I just didn’t feel good. [...] Yes, it’s great to be fit and look great—I believe in intermittent fasting because its benefits are backed by science—but it's about your cells, your muscles, so we can grow old and thrive."

The legendarily fit celebrity went on to discuss her late mother's outlook on all things fitness. 

“What my Mom used to say to me was, 'This is about longevity. It’s a privilege to grow old, but we don't have to grow sick,'" she recalled. "It’s just sort of been a theme in my life: to enjoy the age I am and not look at aging as a negative, but as the privilege that it is."

Jennifer has no problem getting candid about issues of the sort. In November, she opened up about her "challenging" road with IVF and pregnancy rumors that have been following her since she first landed on the spotlight and became huge star on the sitcom Friends.

"I was throwing everything at it," the celebrity said about trying to get pregnant while talking to Allure. "I would've given anything if someone had said to me, 'Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor.' You just don't think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed."

Although Jennifer didn’t specifically address at what age she started trying to conceive via IVF and how long she had been going through the process before she was told it wasn’t going to work, she did sound at peace with the way things have turned out. 

"I have zero regrets," she said to the magazine. "I actually feel a little relief now because there is no more, 'Can I? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.' I don't have to think about that anymore."

It’s rare to hear a celebrity speak so honestly about such touchy subjects, which is what makes Jennifer even that much more worth celebrating.