October 17

I just spent 45 minutes poking around for something I could take a picture of and then post about. (I know, so lame.) I don't particularly like to admit it, but sometimes I just go through the motions and don't notice much of anything. In the end, I turned to my phone and realized --to my chagrin-- that the only photos I did take today were of... me. So I guess I'll use one of them.

Yep. This is me during my walk this morning. (I was actually trying to see how my hair looked from different angles and yes, the vanity of that statement is mortifying.)

This is 40 (though props to the kids' doctor for insisting that I didn't look anywhere near that age when I took Isaac in the other day. He's my favorite.). It's also a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, an aunt, a cousin, and a niece. It's a friend --and if she loves you, she'll be one of the best friends you'll ever have, bar none-- and a writer and an organizer and a mess-maker and a cleaner-upper. It's a laugher and a listener and a feeler and a crier who doesn't back away --and in fact, will lean in so much that you'll probably want to slap her because she just wants to make you feel less alone-- when things get hard. It's a survivor who chose to keep breathing eight years ago and six years ago when it would've been easier to just...stop.

But beyond all of those things, it's a child of God, which is the most important thing that any of us could ever be.

I'm thankful to be her. Even on the days that drag on far too long and feel much too difficult. (And especially on the ones that feature laughter so intense that it dissolves into tears. Because those may well be the best days of all.)