Healing thoughts

Hardship of any kind definitely changes your life. Be it illness, loss, divorce, depression, financial problems, lonliness or whatever. In many ways, hardship can be a blessing of sorts and make your life better. Or at least make your perspective on life a bit better. You learn to see that each person who enters your life is a potential gift. Even when at first, they might seem like just another stranger.

You learn to discard old acquaintances and unsupportive friendships, and weed out relationships that don’t work. You look at the glass as half full, not half empty. You make space in your busy workday for moments of appreciation and love. You learn to make choices that feed rather than drain you... you appreciate each day and those things and people around you. You take time for whatever it is that nurtures and heals you.

As I reflect on the last few years of our lives, I'm almost at a loss for words. Looking at the big picture is overwhelming - yet, such is life. For anyone who looks back on where they were any number of years ago, it's hopefully satisfying and hopeful to see how far you've come. Everyone has their cross to bear - and many people would say they have been at the bottom of the barrel at some point in their lives. Anyone who has been in that spot and has later achieved their goals, made their life better, had some dumb luck and/or is in a better place now, would most likely agree.

The people that have walked into and through our life over the last year are amazing and unforgetable - friends, family, co-workers, doctors, nurses, valet guys, neighbors, unknown favor do'ers, meal cookers, pray'ers, and the list goes on...The catalyst to write this comes from the fact that I'm going back to visit my fertility clinic this week with the kids. We're going back to where it all started. My favorite nurses will be there - and with any luck, my doctor. I'm sure they see miracle babies returning all of the time. And it's probably pretty rewarding that those parents take such pride in their children. Afterall, they worked awfully hard to get them here. But really, I want to go back for my sake and for the kids sake. I want a picture of them with the doctor(s) that made them possible. And from there, over the last 4 years, it snowballed into our life as we know it today.

Someone recently asked if I would tell my kids that they were "IVF" babies. Well, I had not really thought much about that actually. But when I did give it some thought, heck yes, I'll tell them. And by the time they are old enough to understand the birds and bees, IVF will be old school. There will be such amazing technology out there by then that IVF will be almost the norm probably; it will seem like no big deal to them. Of course, being boys, they will probably not care one bit about any of that - it's girly stuff and "gross Mom!". In any case, regardless of how they were conceived, they will know that all children are created out of love and nurtured by parents who love them. In this day and age, there are so many ways to have babies that it almost doesn't matter what the logistics are. The old fashioned way is no different than the "assisted way" now...afterall, the IVF babies are going to start outnumbering the natural babies if we're not careful since they are all born in multiples.

You would think with so many twins around now that we wouldn't be like a circus sideshow whenever we go somewhere...but we are. Still. Hence the reason those 9pm grocery runs are much faster and efficient than doing a daily run with all in tow. Wish us luck on our visit to SGFC - another one of those weird moments will hit me walking in that door, I'm sure. Flashbacks.