new year, new outlook
On April 5, 2011,
a Mack truck hit our life. On that day, our oldest child turned 3 years old and
my husband lost his job. It was — to say the least — a shitty day. To top it
off, I was 5 months pregnant and we had just bought a house a few months earlier
that we could afford on two salaries and not one. Fast-forward 18 months. A few
days before Christmas, Chris got not one but two job offers. It was the best
gift my family could have received.
In those 18
months, after the initial shock wore off and the slow realization that losing your
job during the worst recession since the Great Depression wasn't going to be a cakewalk,
our family started to figure out our new reality: me as sole breadwinner, Chris as
job-hunter and our two boys as reality-inducers. We knew this was temporary, but the “not-knowing-when-it-was-going-to-end” feeling was endless. When, when, when could we take our lives off of pause? When, when, when could we start moving forward again? When, when, when could we starting dreaming and planning again? Those were the things I missed the most. I didn't miss my cell phone, my housekeeper (okay, I did miss that one) new clothes or things for the house, good wine, vacations or going out to dinner. What I missed the most was the glorious feeling of unfettered optimism; of dreaming big; of looking forward to something exciting. We were mired in the when and what and it’s honestly not a great place to be stuck.
Now that we’re
out of that waiting and wondering phase, I love that this didn't break us; it
made us stronger and more focused on what is important in our lives: each
other, our boys and our family and friends. To be happy, you really don’t need much more than
love … and maybe a housekeeper.
So, for 2013, my
goals are to focus on the positive in every situation, no matter how grim. To
enjoy how special our boys are and how big they are growing (and not worry if they are sleeping or eating enough!). To have more
dinner parties and more special times with friends. To enjoy our crazy, hectic life. And
finally, to sum up our family motto for the past year and half, said so eloquently by
Winston Churchill in 1941, to “never, never, never give up.” happy, shiny new year, -s.
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1 comments
Great post. 2013 is looking up already
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