Highlights of our year.
Will. He began the year crawling in onesies and ended the year walking in Big Boy clothes. We find new ways to be proud everyday while we learn that parenting is truly a difficult and challenging adventure full of fear, heartache, love, and trust.
Family. We watched both of our syblings marry wonderful people. I had the pleasure of performing my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding ceremony. We (unexpectedly) spent many weeks of time with family in the fall.
Friends. We visited and were visited by many. Wyatt and Eli for Mardi Gras. Randy and Katherine, Robin and Dave, Dave and Shelley, Paul during a visit to Northern Virginia. Niki, who judged a dance competition in New Orleans last winter. Millard, Violet, Scott, Bethany, Evie, Adam and Jodi and other Michigan friends in Ann Arbor. Both families during the summer weddings. Gwen, Mario, and Gwen’s Dad in St. Simon’s in the fall. Paul’s family in Duck. My girlfriends Christie, David, Steph and Mike in NC. We had the joy of exposing Will to so many people that we care about and hope that he can group up learning from as we have.
Health. I struggled with bacterial pneumonia and signed my first AMA release from medical care. I became pregnant a second time with little trying.
Home. We learned what it means to miss New Orleans. We watched the city we live in drown and felt our hearts ache for the continued ignorance and arrogance of those around us. We can better understand the nature of disaster, having lived for days with questions of whether we would have a place to return home. Luck is something we do not take for granted. Home is something that we look to for people, not things.
Work. Paul continues to enrich our lives with a flexible job that gives him pleasure and allows us to be an incredibly family. I managed to continue to work through the disaster, sought out mentorship, took comprehensive exams, passed them, and became a candidate for a doctoral degree. We somehow have figured out how to both have fulfilling and important careers without long commutes or inflexible demands that give us the ability to spend time each day as a family.
During our drive from New Orleans to Mobile tonight, we talked about the last year and the ones ahead. We talked out some financial concerns, tried to consider other places we could see ourselves living, the kind of lifestyle we wanted, places and things of importance. We are nervous about the tremendousness of the house project we want to take on in the early spring. We are excited about the birth of a second child. We still can’t believe that we leave for Lima in only 3 more days. In short, we are humbled by the year ahead of us and cannot wait to face it together.
Post a Comment