Chasing My Blessings

Dear Bill, Yesterday was your birthday. You would be 38, which to me feels a lot older than it should. I guess that comes with the territory. We ate tacos and the boys and I made a peanut butter cake in your honor. I broke two toes this past weekend and I flooded our kitchen the previous week while replacing the filter for our reverse osmosis system. My dad got a very panicked phone call from a very wet me. I got it figured out, and I am confident in myself enough to do it correctly next time so I won't be buying additional flood insurance. We had a door break off one of the cabinet hinges and I think I will save that for my dad to fix while they are here over Christmas. My handylady skills are maxed out for a bit. I am happy to report that all the boys are doing well in school, and they are all obviously exited for the holiday season. This week Owen had a music/art/PE showcase at school and both he and Landon had holiday parties, all of which the parents are invited, and exp...

Re-partnering after loss and divorce requires an immense amount of patience and understanding. He can't fix my pain and I can't fix his. And although we are living together and raising our family together, we are still learning about each other. And discovering new things about ourselves. We aren't the same people we were when we were with our previous spouses. We have a different outlook on life. Some of the ideals and beliefs we had in the past have been abandoned. And new ones have been adopted. All of this transition, both the letting go and embracing the new, can be overwhelming at times. It is also very rewarding.  Dreams died. A person died. Time was stolen. Promises were broken. Families fell apart. Children were left standing in the rubble while their parents were left to pick up the pieces and move forward with their lives. And two people found each other when it may have seemed that all hope was lost. I harbor some guilt about how I was in my previous relati...