movingforward

I’ve been home for a week, and while it’s good to be back, I’m still figuring out what life looks like now that the crisis of the past year is behind me.

Three good things stand out:

1. being home with my husband

2. having space to breathe after months of intensity

3. and knowing I can move forward at my own pace even as I adjust to life without my dad.

On the final stretch home in Virginia, the sky stacked up with heavy clouds and rain in the forecast. After more than two months away, seeing that familiar road felt like the right ending point — a reminder that even with everything still shifting, getting home matters.

#ThreeGoodThings #SmallJoys #LifeLately #DailyReflection #Gratitude #Home #Transition #MovingForward

ALT

A year ago today, September 5, began a long decline in my life. My brother was found after lying on his floor for three days following a suicide attempt. Weeks of hospitals and difficult decisions followed, then his death, and a few months later, my dad’s.

I’m not spending today reliving it, but I’m painfully aware of everything set in motion on this date and how much life changed in the year that followed.

I’m not “all better.” But this morning my Apple Watch told me my resting heart rate has been lower for 22 days — almost exactly how long I’ve been home after two months in Michigan.

Maybe my body knows something I’m only beginning to recognize. I’m still here, moving forward. September 5 marks where that year began. It doesn’t define the year ahead.

I took this along Virginia’s Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of years ago. Today, the light breaking through the clouds feels especially fitting — a reminder that even after the darkest stretches, light finds its way in.

#Grief #MovingForward #gratitude

ALT