Day 2,855

Growth:

Yesterday I shared the question that got me thinking… “How do I measure success?” Today I am still unclear as to the exact answer, but I can say that today was a successful day for so many reasons.

Time spent with family. Time with laughter. Time in thought. Time with tears. Time spent relaxing. Time spent in reflection. Time lived towards purpose.

Case in point, Gavin and I had a wonderful conversation on the topic of death. As LuLu slows down more and more rapidly we are all having to come to grips with losing her. This has been an opportunity for us to talk about how each day our precious life is one day closer to coming to an end, it is a finite resource that we must pause to be thankful for. Each moment is a gift, let’s live it to its fullest rather than let it slip away as it will if we don’t remember that our gas tanks are slowly draining and cannot be filled back up. Death sucks, but we can use it to live so much more fully if we choose to see it as a source of growth.

That and so many other moments left today feeling like a success. How do I measure success? I’m still not sure, but if each day is lived as fully as today’s I’ll feel pretty successful.

Appreciation:

Today was full to the brim with family time! Dominic moves out in less than a month and more than two and a half of those weeks will be spent with him away from home. That doesn’t leave much family time left for our house as we are used to and we wanted to maximize it.

This morning we went out for a nice early morning hike together followed by a trip to a downtown bakery. After showering up we played games, ate lunch, and played more games as a family until Dominic had to leave for work. We then surprised him by heading to the restaurant he works at or dinner and got to spent a little time with him while he was in action (which was awesome to observe). Chill as a family, spend more time together, and call it a night when the boys left to hang out with buddies after 9:30.

From start to finish it was family time. Tomorrow promises to be more of the same as we head to church and then out on the water for one last boat ride for LuLu.

As mentioned above, life is short, it is a gift. Between Dominic moving and LuLu’s health that message has been amplified. Knowing that change is the only given in life isn’t reason for sadness, rather it is a reminder to appreciate life and drink in each moment we are blessed to receive.

Presence:

On our ride to the restaurant Becky, Gavin, and I all had a shared moment of emotion as we talked about LuLu. The hurt was real, the moment sharing emotion with each other was exactly what a family does for each other. Love can help us all through difficult times.

Thanks!!!