The 3 Ps - or what we've been doing the past 3 weeks

Perseverance: to continue on in the face of adversity

Time waits for no man... and it certainly does no favors for the grieving.

So while I longed for the earth to halt it's movement and for everything to stop and stand still and acknowledge the loss of one of its precious inhabitants... 

... there was the 2nd grade pirate musical to prepare for!

... and a 5th grade Broadway review to enjoy!

... and there were all of the daily life activities to attend to. There were grandparents here to love; there were basketball practices and gymnastics lessons and spelling words to learn. There were books to read and a dog to walk and friends to visit.

Progress: moving forward

There has been little opportunity to sit still... 

or rather, we have been given so many opportunities to get up and live!

So we have hiked with our friends and savored the sunshine (even as it has melted all our snow!)

And in the meantime, our house is almost finished!

It has been great to see daily changes being made and to know that we'll be home by the end of the month. I do not particularly enjoy shopping - any shopping! - but I am happy with the choices made so far to complete the look and make it almost complete.

Providence: divine direction 

There have been many moments where I have felt the universe working to make good things happen.

(Meeting Jason 14 years ago was perhaps one of my favorite such moments!)

But just this week I have known that some events and conversations and moments were happening for a reason and I have tried to recognize those times and appreciate them. That is exactly how I ended up newly, gainfully employed! So just as we are moving back into our house, I will be starting a new job. I am trusting that it will be a good way to bring structure and productivity to my life and a fun, new adventure for our family.

I've thought of many other "P" words that would help describe the past few weeks: 

patience, pensive, peace, packing, pinot grigio... 

and if you asked Sam it would be purple, panda and pizza!

But knowing how we persevere through our grief, make progress on the house and on our healing, and respect moments of providence as they appear seems to complete the picture of how we are living these days... may we also remember to infuse them with positivity and we will be ok!