Every now and then, I get a little glimpse of something that tells me that grief is not just a biotch, but a beautiful biotch. For some reason, she has made me stop every single day and notice the good in this world. I have been more present in my life than I have ever been. I stop every day and admire the beauty around me and appreciate my kids, family, and friends like I’ve never done before. I have become much more compassionate, less “judgey”, and more appreciative than I’ve ever been. How odd. I would expect this super fun life lesson to have made me realize that everything I love could be ripped away in a single moment. That could easily make me bitter. Instead it has somehow managed to make me enjoy everything I have a little bit more. BIZARRE! I never would have expected that. 

I saw a great quote that says “Your life is made of two dates and a dash. Make the most of the dash.” Isn’t that the truth! Sometimes I am so incredibly hard on myself, especially where my parenting is involved. All of my mistakes, short-comings, impatient moments, and harsh words pop to mind so easily. But when I think of memory-making, I am noticing how great Mike and I were and I still am. We have always been crazy busy, on-the-go, weekends planned for months in advance. I’ve gotten a lot of criticism over the years about how we needed to slow down and rest up and stay in town more. (Mostly from friends who just wanted to see us more.) Looking back, thank God that we did not slow down, rest up and stay home more. Our best memories are camping, hunting, fishing, Disneyland, cooking at the Ronald McDonald House, going to sporting events. Don’t get me wrong, some Sundays at home going to church then watching football and having Sunday dinner were great too. But I hardly remember them. There has to be a balance, not every minute can be on the run, but making great memories is my priority now. At the end of a life well-lived, that’s all that’s left. 

This weekend we planned on staying home and relaxing and catching up on a few things since we’ve been gone so much. Last minute, my cousin invited Drew to go hunting and we decided that their boys would come with me for the weekend. This 3 day weekend turned into such a huge memory opportunity. Instead of staying home and having a weekend go into the “unremembered”, Drew has stories of a fun time that he’ll remember forever. The boys and Emrie and I laughed so hard and had a great time, too. I am so grateful for these fun times. Grateful (times a million) for those angels in life who step up and are wonderful to my kids. I am so blessed.