A New Year

I can not believe that it is almost the end of January already! I have been back to work for a month now, which doesn't seem possible. Leaving 2009 has been very difficult. I thought going through Thanksgiving and Christmas so soon after saying good bye to our precious Elijah would be hard and it was. New Years, however, seemed to have a greater effect. So much has happened in this past year that I didn't want it to go, not to mention that on December 31st Elijah would have been 2 months old. Many life changing events happened for us in just one year. In January of last year we were still praying and hoping for another baby, in March we finally discovered we were expecting! Mid year in July is when our world was turned upside down. I spent 3 months in the hospital from August through October on bed rest. I had a lot of time just focusing on Elijah. We delivered our precious son on the evening of October 31st and then had to say good bye on November 1st. That alone is a lot for one year. So many underlying things occurred as well. I prayed more than I ever had before in 2009, I became stronger in my faith, I felt the weakest I ever had before, I become the mother of a beautiful son, I had the saddest day of my life, I saw my husband in a new way, our love for each other grew more than we thought it could, I saw God's love through the people around us, I value life more then I ever did before, I look forward to Heaven so much more, I was reminded of just what a miracle Gabrielle is, I lost a piece of my heart and a piece of me...and the list goes on. These things don't usually happen in a lifetime and it all happened in one year for me. Its a year I will never forget and hold dear to my heart. I hope that as people around me have started their new year and look for changes and new beginnings that they will not forget what this past year has meant to us. That they will always remember last year and think of Elijah and the year that he changed so many lives. Usually when one year ends and another one begins we look forward to the new year and changes and fresh starts...not for me this time.