November 2. It's Sunday evening, we gained an hour of sleep last night switching back from Mountain Daylight Time to Mountain Standard Time. I felt well rested this morning but a little groggy too. It has been a day for learning and stretching. In my heart and spirit it is a day for shaking things up even though in my head I do everything possible to avoid this sort of thing. Shake on Baby! It has been an entire month since I wrote anything here, and I am lamenting the things I wanted to say being lost. I left one home to return to my other one about six hours ago, and again, it was hard. It is hard missing my kids when I am on the mountain, and hard missing my husband when I am in the valley. We are doing the best we can with circumstances being what they are, but I feel that we are not growing together in ways I would like to. I do feel gratitude to be able to say that I am finding spaces betwixt the confusion and despair for hopes and dreams to form and foster renewed faith that all things happen for a reason and that there is divine order to life in it's many unveilings. Yesterday we were shopping for cookies for a Make-A-Wish Foundation fundraiser for one of the children's school club projects, and as fate would have it, there were not any of the sort of cookies to be had that we intended to find. Instead we wandered the acres of isles in the membership warehouse, searching every possible location (could they be in the bakery? with the snacks and crackers? perhaps someone inadvertently has tucked them into a cabinet next to the sofas! how about the cereal isle?) to no avail. Yesterday it was tiresome and frustrating, but tonight I realized the lesson for me was to search diligently for the things I hold dear and to leave no stone unturned.
October 31, Halloween! Last year on Halloween, a beautiful grandson was born to our family and I was invited to share the event along with his other set of grandparents. It was nothing short of a miracle to be present and witness his first breath of life and see him smile for the first time when less than 15 minutes old. I promise, it happened and has been happening regularly ever since. He is full of life and son-shine! The very same day, my husband suffered a significant heart attack and was treated at the very same hospital. Events occurred in such a way that the head of the cardiac unit happened to be close by en-route to speak at a funeral some distance away and was able to literally fly in, perform the required surgery on the blocked arteries within the recommended time frame to keep tissue damage minimal and save the day. And my husband. He has had a remarkable recovery, and whenever I feel his arms around me, or experience his wisdom, or his danish blue eyes, I feel gratitude for the marvels of technology and modern medicine, the skill of his doctor, the compassion of his nurses, and the grace of God for the "One More Day" that I keep getting to have. With him.