Today

So, it’s fair to say that the last few years have been quite active with good things and some that have been hard to endure.

Last year I took some time away from work and my day to day personal life.

Yesterday, I realized that I have been back for 107 days. I don’t generally consider myself superstitious but I have always thought of 7 and 10 as lucky numbers. (Why I came up with both of these numbers is a different but very fun post for another day!)

So as I drove home last night following a long but good day, I had a huge smile on my face. “Living in the Moment” by Jason Mraz (a favorite of ours from the trip) was playing from my Apple Music and I was singing to my heart’s delight. I truly couldn’t remember the last time I felt this specific type of joy leaving work—not because work is bad. It just hasn’t felt “normal” in a long time.

And there it was. Normal. That is what I had been craving. Just normal. Wonderful, fabulous, comforting, life-giving normal.

During my time away, no day was normal. Each was amazing, actually. Getting back to the routine of work and home has been a mixed bag. Most of you know, I am engaged-reunited with my one true love and that is so special and heart-filling. Everything else has been not bad just not anywhere near normal.

SO what made the day so wonderfully normal?

6:45am: I got into my car which was warm and running, hot coffee in the cup holder and a sweet note on the passenger seat reminding me I am loved and that great things were ahead for my day. Pretty good so far.

8:30am: I got to meet with some of the kindest, most authentic and loving people I have had the pleasure of getting to know—a family and their truly special advisors who make me smile because their energy is palpable;  doctors who are so passionate about the ground breaking work they are doing in mental health that it brings tears to my eyes and we talked for close to two hours about the work getting done, made possible by this family. Children whose lives are changed FOREVER and the implications of that. Families changed. Generations changed.

Seriously, I could have gone home after that and felt it was a fulfilling, productive day. But I didn’t.  

As it happens we had planned a dinner for the same day and it was to be at the hospital.

6:30pm: An intimate gathering began with people who are very close to the hospital. We ate with doctors who walked us through some of the challenges they face daily with children and sometimes parents who are struggling to grasp their child’s condition. The end of which was not tied up with a pretty bow. That is life in a hospital. That is sometimes just life.

8:45pm: I pulled out of the parking lot. Music blaring. Smile from ear to ear. Normal. Today was normal. And that felt amazing.