Grief

My friend Emma sent me the following text today as it was printed on another SMA family's blog and she thought that I could relate. It is perfect and expresses my feelings accurately so I am reposting it here:

Meet my Friend Grief

"I would like you to meet my best friend. His name is Grief. We met each other unexpectedly and became friends instantly. He follows me wherever I go. When I go to sleep at night he tucks me in and whispers in my ear, "I'll see you in the morning." When I awake surely he has held true to his promise and greets me with a frown. He frowns because he is sad he had to meet me. He is the most loyal friend in the world. You can forget him for a while and not even think about him and he is willing to return at the drop of a dime. Grief is unselfish though. When other friends are around, he takes a back seat. He is quieted by the chattering of my other friends. It's nice to have a break from Him. Sometimes he's unrelenting and can be a drag. Other times I am grateful he's my friend because when he's around I know I haven't Forgotten.

A while back he was my very best friend. Slowly other friends are taking his place and he doesn't visit as often. I have even made friends with Joy again. I thought I had lost her friendship forever. Joy is a good friend too. Hopefully one day I will be able to be as good friends with Joy as I was with Grief. Maybe one day we can all be friends and share the same heart. To live in the Joy of today, to remember the grief of yesterday and to love all of my tomorrows. When all three of us can attain the same heart, I know our new best friend will be peace."
-by Michelle Krainich

Thanks Emma and Kendra!

Love to you all,

Kristen

Christmas Busyness

I know that I haven't written in a while. It's not because I haven't wanted to, but I ended up with a really bad cold last week that lasted a good 11 days! I spent two Saturdays just trying to rest so that I could survive the week. I am finally feeling better but now poor Aria has a cold. She only seems bothered it by night however so I guess I should be happy about that.

With Christmas soon to arrive we have been very busy. Last week, we of course attended Calla's winter concert. Mike and I also attended a dinner to raise money and collect toys for the Cheer Board. I have also been trying to buy presents and wrap them as well as get out our Christmas cards and do some baking. I am trying really hard to throw myself into Christmas this year but I am finding it a little bit hard. Feeling sick for over a week hasn't helped my situation. I just ended up feeling overwhelmed and grumpy knowing that I couldn't get it all done without help.

Thank you to my mom! She has been here twice this week already and will be here again tomorrow so that I can volunteer for an hour at Calla's school. I have managed to finish all of my Christmas shopping and some baking. The cards are still sitting here but they'll get out eventually. : )

Tomorrow we are also being interviewed for CTV for a piece that they are doing about pediatric palliative care. No idea when it is being aired but will keep everyone updated.

So does it get easier? A little...we hung Georgia's decorations this year and I didn't feel bitter, just sad. While I am trying to have fun and continually remind myself about the true meaning of Christmas most of the time I feel 'flat'. It's hard for me to get excited about anything, even Christmas. I realized recently that I can go days without laughing. That's not good. I am going through the motions though and once again following my motto of 'Fake it till you make it'. My new year's resolution will probably be something like,'Laugh every day!' I may have to start recording Ellen. She always makes me laugh. : )

Love to you all,

Kristen