Encouraged

Well, I finally got a comment. thanks Cath ;)

Today is the last day of 2010. It has been a good year, and a bad year.
On the one hand...Chris got a great job, with great people so life isn't so scary anymore, but that meant leaving behind some of the best neighbors we've ever had, a giant home with oodles of yard to play in, deer and all sorts of wildlife in our yard every day, a great doctor for the kids and one of the best libraries I've ever seen.
We have a nice home here in East Ridge, life on the side of a mountain is....different. Being from Michigan, when I see 1/4" of snow, I don't give it a second thought. But here....well, that same 1/4" of snow causes massive pileups on the freeways and too many slip and falls to count (my sweet Chris being one of them!)
We do have a great pediatrician here, and the nurse practitioner at the office thinks out loud...which may have saved my Noah's life. See, she was seeing him for thrush...and I commented on how he must be getting ready for potty training because he really goes a LOT when he goes...but sometimes he goes alot...too often. She said she wanted to do some blood work and get a urine specimen to check for sugar....rather offhandedly. When he didn't go there at the office, she sent us home with a couple pucs (sticky bags to collect urine on children). Next morning, he was pretty miserable and kinda lethargic, which is huge for him because he is ALWAYS on the go. I don't know why it popped into my head, but I'm so grateful it did. Check his sugar! I did, and initially thought my meter was broken. I did it again and checked the manual of my meter. It was too high for the meter to read!
So...he was officially diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes, adding another condition to his large list. My poor fellow.

Earlier in the year, right around the time we were moving, I heard from a dear friend about a family who suffered the greatest shocking loss of their lives. Their beautiful 8 year old daughter, who was born with Down syndrome, had a heart defect necessitating open heart surgery and beat Leukemia suddenly, and without warning, stopped breathing, her little heart stopped and she was gone!
I was asked to make a memory quilt, and although it took me much longer than I would have liked, it was finished and under her Christmas tree for her first Christmas without her beautiful Carly. I was so incredibly honored to be entrusted with the project...as difficult as it was having to constantly think about their loss and the fact that it could happen to anyone of us at anytime!

The year also brought with it the news from my son that he is bi-sexual and needed a home for himself and his boyfriend Jordan. He seemed shocked that we didn't hesitate to offer up my sewing/craft room for them and accepted them both. See, he doesn't have children, and although I've always told him that people are not disposable, meaning you just cut them out of your life if they do something you don't approve of or like...but he gets it now. My kids have always been my whole life. I'm really all about family.
Some things have happened over the past 3 + years that have hurt me more deeply than I ever thought I could be hurt...but I'm looking past that.
This New Year that is upon us will be brighter, better and more loving than any we've ever known....I just know it!

Happy New Year everyone!