Happy New Year!

As Alan and I talked about 2012, we agreed that it was really a pretty good year. Sure, there is that cancer thing…that kind of put a damper on things. But before our world got turned upside down on 9/18, lots of good things happened. To name a few…

The kids and Grandma Nelson

• I got a new job!
• We got to visit Alan’s grandma and attend his high school friend’s beautiful wedding in Iowa this summer.
• Bryn learned to ride a bike and started kindergarten.
• Hayden started middle school and has handled it like a champ.
• Tyler got his tonsils removed. While this seems like a bad thing, it was such a blessing because Tyler hasn’t gotten sick ONCE since we did it.
• I took Alan to see Huey Lewis for his birthday.
• He returned the favor for my birthday by taking me to see Def Leppard and Poison.
• I got to go on a girls’ cruise with eight FANTASTIC women.

But, one of the most important things happened after 9/18.

I had a gut feeling about this lump from the second I found it. So much so, that I actually started writing down my thoughts. I don’t usually journal, but I didn’t want to talk about it with anyone because I felt like I was being overly dramatic.

One of the things I wrote was this:

The good news is that if it turns out to be bad news, I have developed a pretty amazing network of friends in the recent years. I have my longtime friends. I have my amazingly supportive family. I have a lot of people who I know care about me from my previous job. I have great, supportive people whom I’ve just met at my new job. Then, there is church. We’ve become so involved lately, getting to know many more people, including our small group. It is all really amazing, to be honest.

That is probably why God has put them in your life. He knew you’d need people for this.

Yup. I called it before I even got the diagnosis. I feel like so many things were set up so perfectly for us to arrive at this life-changing moment. That has made all the difference in our ability to take it on.

More than anything, I think that 2012 has shown us a breadth and depth of relationships that we could never imagine. We have seen just how much we have been blessed to know each and every one of the people in our lives.

So, here is to 2013. It will be a rough year, no doubt. But, I’m sure that we will learn a lot, become stronger and wiser as a family, as a couple and as individuals. Next year, at this time, so much of the hard stuff will be in the rearview mirror.

Happy 2013!