What have we learned? Don’t drink and blog. Sheesh…seriously, 4 beers deep and I sounded SO depressing! And honestly, I’m not. Life is grand (yes, grand) right now, and I’m enjoying it. I finally live IN the District, and its great! I love being in the middle of action and being close to work. I’m expanding my group of friends, and finding some great kindred spirits. I went hiking in the freakin’ Shenandoah valley like I’ve wanted to for years. I mean, it kicked my ass, but I had SUCH a great time.
Anyway…the project I want to do on here is…a happiness/love/gratitude project. I realize this probably isn’t terribly original, but I want to do it. Every day, I want to jot down a little something that I love, or am grateful for, or makes me happy. I’m a huge believer in positivity brews positivity, so I don’t want to be negative or bitter any more. Sure, something awful happened to me, and my heart was shattered and I was in more pain than I’ve ever known in my life. But there are worse things happening in the world than my heart getting broken and being betrayed by someone I trust. And I need to remember that. Luckily, a huge bit of drama is out of my life, and I need to do my best to not get wrapped up into stupid stuff any more.
So here’s my Inaugural Happiness/Grateful/Love post (I really need to come up with a better name. Now taking suggestions!):
I am extremely grateful for my cousin, Jason’s daughter, Starcie. She was born in December, 2009. And today she had to have heart surgery, to fill a whole in her heart that she was born with. I think at this point in her life, she’s been in the hospital more times than being home. This is a recent picture of her, when she was stable enough to leave the hospital and come home:
Sweet Starcie
Her cheeks are swollen because of the steroids she has to take, and she’s on a respiratory. But those of us who have seen pictures of her up to this point, she looks amazing here. Her life has been a struggle so far, and she’s only 10 months old. All I do is pray for this little child because she shouldn’t have to know such hardship before her first birthday. Her parents deserve to be worry-free and care-free. It just puts my petty issues into perspective. So, today I’m a grateful to God, and for Starcie. Because she had risky heart surgery today that the doctors were split on, trying to determine if it was worth it to pursue, or if she wouldn’t be able to pull through it. But she did. She pulled through. She proved those doctors wrong. And I’m so grateful for that. I want that child to be healed, I want her to be a miracle, and I want her to experience life. I want her to see the seasons and holidays and have crushes and read books that will take her places she can’t even dream of. I want to talk to her in later years, and tell her how much I love her, even though I might not seem like a close relative. I want her to know how amazing her older brother is, and how strong her parents are. She comes from a family of fighters, and I want to watch her grow in her precious life.
