2017: Flying High

This was a great year. We weren't in the hospital once! We thought we were in the clear with the Hidradenitis Suppurativa and any health scares, because you had been put on a medicine that was seeming to control it. You thought it was both funny and irritating that the medicine had a picture of a baby on it. Because of this, you had to have regular lab work as it interfered with fertility. We were well beyond those years, so that was the funny part. The lab work was the irritating part. Yet, it seemed to control the infection, so we were happy.

Travels

Our travels now became the traditional trip to the beach and Disney World, with the grandchildren being small. Watching them experience the magic never got old. Their excitement became our joy. We found ourselves slowing down, walking at their pace, letting their wonder guide our days.

We did smaller things through the year too, such as taking the grandchildren to Derby Dinner Playhouse and following after them with ballet, gym, and ball. Our calendar started to look more like a schedule for a part-time chauffeur than anything else, but we loved every minute. The little voices from the back seat, the crumbs on the floorboard, the sleepy heads nodding off on the way home — it all felt like the sweet reward of time well spent.

We weren’t chasing big adventures anymore, but instead we found joy in the everyday ones. Sitting in the audience while they twirled on stage, cheering from the sidelines, or helping them with snacks between events. It became a rhythm we cherished. These were the golden days we didn’t realize we were already living.