Friday, May 25, 2012

May 25

I have never been the type to remember specific days, I really do well to remember my children's birthdays.  May 25th is different.  I remember that day, everyday.  On May 25 in 1995, my life changed and a new "season" began.  I was 13 years old. Up until that point my childhood was happy and carefree.  My parents were divorced, but it was unusually functional.  Maybe it wasn't and they hid it from me, but all I knew was love and happiness.  Both of my parents loved me unconditionally and my step-parents treated me like I was their own.  It was dysfunctional happiness and I loved it!

May 25, 1995 my dad was killed in a plane crash.  Wow!  That hit hard.  The years following were even harder, relationships were broken and life was different, very different.  My mom poured her entire existence into my sister and I.  Our lives were happy again, but different.  I understood pain and loss, but I also understood God's grace and supplication even in our darkest times.  Thank heavens I learned that early on, it has been necessary a few times since.

Life continued on and I grew up; graduated from college, got married and my sweet Anna Beth was born.  At that point my life changed again.  I understood unconditional love.

Soon after Anna Beth's birth my mom was diagnosed with a terminal illness.  She was a fighter and she fought for several years.  She passed away when Maddie was 1 month old.  Life changed again.  God had prepared me for what he knew was going to happen.  Chris was and still is a constant source of support and love.

And today I am completing my doctorate degree, have a dream job as a college professor, and a husband that loves me and our children unconditionally.  God is good.  May 25th was a hard day, but life is made up of many different "seasons".  All of these parts woven together make a beautiful picture.  So today I am not sad, but instead thankful.  I am thankful for the "seasons" of life that make us who we are intended to be.