As this year comes to a close and I reflect on all that has taken place I realize that life will go where it wants and you are just along for the ride.
We have had moments of excitement and pride and moments of extreme loss and sadness. All of the events and emotions that have come this year have made me take a step back at this time and reflect on what I have.
My life is the best it has ever been. My kids are happy, healthy and productive adults. I continue to be a proud mom every day. I can't express how much I love my kiddos but it is an immense feeling! My Husband is happy and healthy and has a good job that provides. I am happy and healthy also with a good job. Even though that job has provided a roller coaster of its own this year, I am still employed and that is all I can ask. Aside from all that, I have a family that loves me unconditionally and that keeps me going.
I am so very blessed to have a family that loves and supports. This includes my immediate family, my husband and children as well as parents & siblings. We may not always see eye to eye but we love each other nonetheless. And whether you are near or far, or if we see each other all the time or once in a blue moon, I am here and I love you!! I also have several friends that would go to the ends of the earth for me as I would them. But what I have realized is that with all the busyness of life we forget to reach out to one another and just check in from time to time. A text, a phone call, a FB message just to say hi can mean the world to someone.
We have experienced great loss this year in two ways. One, we lost our sweet old Hunter this Summer. We miss him every day but we are glad he is no longer in pain. But the biggest loss we had this year is something too many people experience in their lives. We lost one of Shawn's absolute best friends to suicide this fall. To both experience this loss yourself and watch the family go through this unimaginable pain and sadness is something that I hope no one else ever has to go through. What is left behind after a suicide is tragedy, sadness, anger, questions, loss and emptiness. Everyone copes in their own way and in their own time. I am not sure if time will actually heal this wound, but maybe it will make it more bearable, who knows. I am just praying that all affected can put one foot in front of the other every day and feel the love and prayers that surround them. We need to keep our friends and family close, check in often even if it's just a simple hello. I am trying to be better about this.
My hope for 2019 is that I connect more often with friends that I love dearly, check in on them more often. I pray for healthy lives both physically and mentally for my friends and family. I also pray that if any of my friends or family EVER need to talk or feel like they are at rock bottom that they let me know. I will listen for as long as it takes.
I leave you with this as we leave 2018... NEVER take anything or anyone for granted, live each day to the fullest as it could all change in the blink of an eye!! Love one another with every ounce of your being. Be brave!! And when all else fails, LEAN ON ME!
I love you my friends, my family and I hope to be the best friend or family member I can be.
Let's rock 2019 TOGETHER!!
~Nic
