Catching up on March

March will go down as one of the most hectic, hard, tiring, tragic, spiritual times in my life. Looking back on all that happened, the good, the bad and ugly makes my head spin.

We experienced the loss of two wonderful people in our family. First, Uncle Lyle, who lost his battle with cancer. He was such a good uncle to us, and treated our children like his own grandchildren. Mostly, he treated our Aunt Linda with love and we will miss him for his comic relief and good advice.


Then, Jason's grandma who was finally able to pass peacefully to be with her family on the other side. Grandma Tracey always treated me like I was her own grandchild and ALWAYS kissed us straight on the lips. Even if we said "No thank you" she would get up and serve us all cake or oreos when we came to visit.



Amid trips to hospitals to see grandma, ridiculous snow storms and a trip to Texas for Uncle Lyle's funeral, we also finished our basement and moved my mom downstairs. This turned out to be an amazingly long and hard process, as we once again purged ourselves of unwanted "stuff" and moved our food storage.....can by can.




Also, in the mix, Elijah turned 5!!!! He was so excited and loved all of the attention. We had crazy hair day, pajama day, hawaiian day and soccer got back into swing.

Probably the highlight, was Madeline's baptism. It was just a special day. We all felt it. As papa Ed gave her a blessing, he talked a lot about her courage and zest for life. It was a good reminder to me, just how great my kids are. They are brave, and they have to be to live in this world.

And of course, the next morning after Madeline's baptism at 7:30 am is when I found Autumn with some pills in her mouth. She is 100% herself, but I must say that I am not quit there. I just feel a sense of unease, and have trouble sleeping with the images of her those two horrible days. I guess I am trying to see if there was more of a lesson in it for me, more than the obvious. Last summer I went to the funeral of a baby girl who 17 months old as well. I thought my heart would burst with sadness and I just kept looking at my poor friend and wondering how she would handle the loss of such a sweet little thing. While in the ER, I was contemplating that very scenario. I can't even write what that was like, or how much it has changed me. If nothing else, I hold her much more closely, appreciate her every cuteness and try to be thankful that I was able to bring her home.

Jason's dad stayed up until mid-night on March 31st because he wanted to see it leave. It certainly was one to remember and one to try to forget.