Blessed

Regan's third grade class has had a rough fall. 

Beyond words difficult. 

Emotionally draining. 

The year started off when a third grade teacher suddenly lost her 3 year old son. He had health issues but it was completely unexpected. Last fall, her and I bonded over the fact that we both had boys named "Lincoln"; discussing how we each (we had no idea she had a Lincoln at the time) had come up with the name. And then we were suddenly faced with talking to the kids about death (of a child) and dying in words the girls understood. We hugged our children tight and were reminded just how quickly life could be taken away. Then, just as things seemed to be getting back to normal in school, and Mrs. H had returned to the classroom, we got another call. This weekend we learned that the mother of a fellow classmate died in a car accident just up the street from our home. She leaves behind a husband and 3 small children. Talk about tough. I am brought to tears by the amount of sadness in all of this. 

And so I've spent a great deal of time lately feeling blessed. Taking an extra minute for one more round of kisses in the mornings. Spending every second of every day loving up on this family. And when Lincoln curled up on my chest one morning this week, I knew that I'd be late for work...but it didn't matter. Not one bit. I snuggled him tight and let his arms wrap around mine in a loving hug for as long as he wanted. While the sadness runs deep, the love runs deeper.