It’s a bit late to be writing one of those New Year’s resolution posts or try to forecast what will happen with our family this year (as you all know, how our plans go…), but we couldn’t be happier that it’s a brand spanking new year!
It’s clear that if you’ve been reading our blog since the beginning, you know that we’ve had a pretty rough year. Ranging from Eliza‘s brain injury to Gwen‘s recently placed trach to having two nurses in our home each day, our world was completely turned upside down in the Year of the White Tiger.
Gina and I did spend a bit of time reflecting back to how we have handled some of these very difficult, very complex situations - and there’s not a day that goes by when we are not reminded of them.
It would not benefit anyone to track our timeline of trauma - whether it be in 2010 or beyond - but looking backward during this time of year is just so synonymous with our transition into the new one.
Instead of over-reflecting, however, Gina and I have realized that what makes us strong is our bond with one another, so that’s why we chose to spend the New Year away from our children (who are most definitely a reflection our strong bond).
We had three days and two nights away from our busy home. It was the second time in our 9-year marriage (outside of our short honeymoon in northern Michigan) that we fully escaped - despite the fact that we were only about 30 miles away in Holland, Mich.
We had not a care of the outside world and could have been in “any city, U.S.A.” We spent each second talking about what have enjoyed, what we currently enjoy and started looking forward to growing our bond outside of care giving for our children.
There are very bright signs of hope and positivity in the New Year (the year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese calendar), and it will be very challenging for us to not get the old mixed in with the new.
Everything that has happened before now has ‘happened.‘ It’s gone. Our resolve is to continue to focus on what we can change instead of what is behind us.
