Blessed

What a roller coaster of emotions the last twelve months have been. Our lives are in many ways vastly different than I imagined them a year ago today. And this month? It’s been harder emotionally than I could have imagined.

Today marks one year to the day since I heard words that would shock, sadden and crush me. Nothing can prepare you to both see your baby on an ultrasound screen for the first time and hear the words “I’m sorry” all in one breath. Since then, we’ve prayed for healing and slowly began moving forward.

We found joy again and celebrated our family of 3 with a trip to Walt Disney World. A needed break from the every day and a chance to be together. Just us.

We celebrated again when we got another positive only to find ourselves grieving again. We pushed forward.

We celebrated our precious son and his 4th birthday. What a blessing to have such an amazing, sweet, loving, healthy child.

We went on our annual beach trip with friends. One that wasn’t supposed to happen as we should have been home with a newborn. But again, it was as needed as our Disney trip in our healing. We kept moving forward one step at a time.

Last month Trent & I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary and 14 years altogether of knowing, loving and supporting one another. We took a combined work/leisure trip to England. A first for both of us. Again, something not likely possible had events been different over the last year.

Thus, as challenging, frustrating and even heartbreaking at times the last year has been, I felt strongly about the selection for our Christmas card. I had been working on and off with my dear friend, Nila, for months to schedule a time to have family photos taken. It’s something I always seem to procrastinate on and I truly wanted & needed to celebrate us. The three of us. The blessed, loving, precious family we have. If anything, I have learned even through my grief and tears in the last year to be grateful because we are truly blessed.