Celebration And Sadness

“We sometimes choose the most locked up, dark versions of the story, but what a good friend does is turn on the lights, open the window, and remind us that there are a whole lot of ways to tell the same story.”
~Shauna Niequist

It's been a really rough few weeks. Lots of good and bad things happening in short bursts.

But instead of taking up my small piece of your time with a lamenting tale about the struggles of my family at present, I'm going to remind you, and more importantly myself, that life is about the celebration in the struggles.

Long story short, in the chaos of going back and forth from the hospital and keeping people updated on my Grandfather's situation, I did my part by watching Sierra Mae, my beautiful niece, so that my aunt and mom could be at the hospital dealing with things.
And her smile made me smile. And after a conversation with a good friend and an afternoon of giggle-conversation I realized that I needed to stop being so negative.

Which given the circumstances felt impossible. Like the positive energy well that I'm so quick to give out of was completely dry.

My birthday is in a few days, and I was all set to skip it. Didn't feel like celebrating at the moment. Would've rather wallowed, I guess. But now I see why that was so against my message.
Life is reminding me that there is celebration and sadness, and sometimes they both happen at once.

So here we are. On a night in the middle of a totally up in the air situation that I could write pages on, I'm choosing instead to celebrate the life of a beautiful little girl who made my day.

SIERRA MAE

In case you haven't noticed, she's beautiful. And I love her.

Thanks for being the angel this family needs, babygirl.