This past was a milestone weekend.
A year ago Saturday, we got the keys to our first house. An hour later, my father had his stroke, and my husband saved his life. Everything changed after that.
It's still really hard to think about, and I find it impossible to look at my house and not think of these two events that are inextricably linked. It's like "I bought a house, I'm a grown up!" and BAM, then I really grew up. I'll never have an answer as to why things happened this way. And yep, you bet I was angry for a very long time. At God (still am, truth be told), at karma, at fate - whoever. But I am grateful my dad continues to recover, and am hopeful that one day we'll have conversations together as we used to.
Anyway.
A wonderful thing I discovered this year, is this lovely blogging world that has brought me so much happiness.
Lauren from oh,lauren (an amazing place to find pretty photos, interesting dreamscapes, and enough ephemera to keep me drooling) and Diana from poppy brew (warning: blog will encite massive LOLs, plus Liz Lemon quotes!!!) BOTH passed this award on to me!
In lieu of "random" facts, I thought I'd share these:
7 things I've learned for myself this year
- Never underestimate the restorative power of a good bubble bath.
- What doesn't kill you, will make you stronger, but it will probably hurt like it has anyway.
- There are some bad people in the world, who will absolutely step on, kick, and punch you while you are down.
- There are even more good people in the world, who will prop you up when the above inevitably happens.
- My parents are the toughest people I know.
- My husband is a genius at handling crises. Seriously.
- An armful of kittens is the world's greatest stress reliever. ( I'm pretty sure there'd be no more wars, if everyone had a bunch of kitties to hug. )
Passing this love to:
post if you like, just know - heart you all.
{ back tomorrow with more silliness, and much less petulance, i promise. }
ps - seriously. sorry for the downer post. i just re-read, and it's like "OH BOY" but i'm not gonna lie - i'm way too tired to re-do it again.
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This is a very nice post! I cant believe its been a year already. You have Most Def been through a whole heck of a lot this year. Here is too a new year and great things to come this year!
Thanks for passing it along to me
Kelli, my dear, you should know by now that everyone who comments here, loves you and cares about you! :) So the serious downer as you call it, I feel honoured you trust enough to share it.
I am so glad your Dad continues to recover :)
Thank you so much for passing on the Love, that is truly sweet. :)
November is a HUGELY challenging month for me where many of my life's ups and downs occurred :)
Have a lovely day. T.:)
Beautiful post Kelli and it's amazing how time flies, isn't it? I am thankful that your father continues to recover and i'm sure you must treasure your hubby dearly. Loved reading your 7 things too And i'm thrilled to receive and award from you! Yay for me!:-). Happy Monday! XX
it's always good to reflect.. it helps us stay realistic. Your number 2 is great, something that a lot of people (including me, often) need to be reminded of! i'm glad your Dad is recovering. here's to a better year!
so sorry to hear about your dad. i know that can be really frustrating. the same thing has happened to my grandmother and thank god that she is still a rolling stone! she is a tough women! i hope things with him get better! all you can do is just be there for him and let him know you love him <3
thanks for the award sweetie!!!
xo,
cb
Ohh sweetie..That is a beautiful post! I wish your dad all the best...I bet it had to be so very hard. I hope he will get better and better each day. Thank you so much for the award...Yay! So excited! Kisses and hugs and thank you again for making my Monday so lovely
So sorry about your dad! That must be really tough, and I wish him and your family all the best!
I love how your yard looks striped! I think that's just the pattern the lawnmower makes when you go back and forth right? I've only had a yard once and it was mostly dandelions. Actually I just moved to a place with a yard, and it's mostly just mud. Yards hate me!
I'm excited to check out the blogs you mentioned. I'm sure I'll find some good ones to add!
LOVE no ADORE what u said! - i feel 10000% the same - keep strong!
PS - i have a GIVE-AWAY going on :o)
A big hug for you and a YES to #1-7. Particularly those involving bubble baths, seriously awesome husbands and fluffy kitties. Thank goodness for the wonderful things in our lives that help make things better when all feels bad.
Time will be kind to both you and your dad.
kelli, such a touching post, it makes me shiver. it's ok to be angry (and let it out instead of stuffing it), and even more constructive to be grateful. god, that can be hard! i love your list of what you learned this year--filled with honesty + tenderness. XO!
p.s. thanks for passing the love my way!!!
I love all of your pieces of advice, so to speak! And I'm sorry to hear about your father.. I'll be thinking about you both (prayers if wanted!)
Also thank you for the kind words about my blog!!
I didn't read anything down about this post, in fact, it's certainly more real and uplifting than anything I've read in the last few days!! I'm glad blogging has given you happiness because I (amongst a lot of others I'm sure) enjoy reading what you have to say x
Such a touching post. #2 is so true and I have never heard it put so eloquently.
I am sending good thoughts and prayers for your dads recovery. Thank you so much for the love and returning it to you triple!! ((hugs))
umm so i've never met you in real life but i love you. is that weird...? i dont mean like creepy creepster love, but you can take it how you'd like to.
anyways, i am so glad your dad has been getting better, that's very encouraging for the future. strokes are so scary, and i'm glad your husband was there and knew what to do.
thanks for the award my dear. i'm so glad we're blog buddies. you are truly amazing ♥
well first of all, you're always allowed to vent. and you're certainly allowed to throw yourself a pity party sometimes. You've had a lot thrown at you in a short amount of time and you still have a positive outlook (mostly...depending on how many LOs or certain folks are in your office on a given day ;) )
you're a strong woman and a great girl. so you deserve to have karma kick back some great shit in your direction real soon! :)
Aw Kelli I am so sorry to hear about your dad. I hope he's doing well and will have an extremely speedy recovery. What a terrible thing to go through... I'm so glad that your husband was able to save his life. It's really too bad that now you associate your new home with your dad having a stroke. I hope that feeling will go away soon and when your dad is able to come and visit and is more like his old self hopefully you will be enjoying your new home! Congratulations by the way. Thinking of you! Hope you have a lovely weekend.
high five for the year anniversary of the house! and hugs for the year anniversary of your dad's stroke. you are a tough cookie, little one, and its clear you can handle anything!!