I love this song by MercyMe called “What’s a little rain?” If you’ve never heard it I have a video of it at the bottom of this blog. It talks about getting through hard times. I think everyone deals with grief in their own way. For me there are certain triggers – things like seeing my dad’s shoes…thinking of my dad’s best friend and how sad he is…hearing songs on the radio that make me think of him…thinking of planning my son’s baptism and knowing my Dad isn’t going to be there…the holidays…so wish we could skip those this year.
But then I think about the holidays and how special they will be for my family too…we can turn our grief into a celebration of his (and His) life…a celebration of our family being whole again…and a celebration of our newest member, Lucas.
We have a picture of a turkey hanging on our door that has a place for cards on it for us to write all that we are thankful for this year. I let Aidan fill out the cards. He’s thankful for the usual…family, his baby brother (sometimes), food, his bed and of course batman. My list is a little longer and won’t fit on the little cards so I think I will list it out here so I will be able to look back during those sad times and have a reason to smile …
- My Mom. Amazing. Stronger than she knows.
- My family – I have a wonderful husband who affords me the opportunity to stay home and raise our kiddos. He is such a hands-on dad and I love watching him with the boys. I have two crazy little boys that put a smile on my face each day.
- My family reunited. Girls! Girls! Girls! Instantly I have 4 new babysitters. Seriously, it truly has been a blessing having them back in our lives. Kris has been wonderful and has raised three pretty amazing girls. Love them. And they love my boys! John has been very gracious (and tolerant – he even taught Aidan to put the toilet seat down when he’s done with his business…and Aidan ate rabbit yesterday, and LOVED it!). Love him. Goodness all around.
- My in-laws. My mother-in-law who came through huge for us this summer by staying in town for weeks while I was in the hospital. My father-in-law who came in each weekend to make sure we were okay. Even though Aidan doesn’t stay on the phone for long he is always excited about his weekly phone calls from Popi.
- I can’t list out each member of our family (inevitably I would miss someone and might offend)…but you know who you are. Each of you are so special to us. We realized that even more this summer. We had thoughts of leaving town for a few years and were reminded this summer during our time of need how lucky we are to have such a large and loving family that live close by. We leaned on so many of you and appreciate you more than you know.
- I have these girlfriends. They have been my friends for years. Love them. I am so thankful for them. Losing my dad is the hardest thing I have gone through. They get it.
- My MOPS group. I have made some amazing friendships through this group.
- My doctors at NMH. They saved my life this summer – what more can I say?
So my list is pretty long and I could go on and on. So even though we had a crazy summer that seemed like a rollercoaster ride we came out of it okay. We survived. And I think we are stronger for having gone through it. So what’s a little rain?
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
On December 12th, during a snowy Chicago blizzard we were surrounded with family! 
Kevin and Katie are Lucas' sponsors
And Lucas didn't even cry!
