My Dear Friends

You know who you are. My beloved friends from the community, work, around and of course, family. Thank you all. I am fine. I know I have been sporadic, to say the least, in my blogging, and in my facebook interactions and in most other ways as well. But, you see, I am so very happy. And busy. Busy just being, sometimes. Oh, and I am stressed, too. But that is different. Stress and love and happiness don't really mix, so I try to separate them and keep my chin up and only allow the love to surface. The stress comes from being overwhelmed, and from allowing myself to feel inadequate and unwise. This too, shall pass. But the love and happiness shall go on forever.

Thinking back on the past year, and my mind wants to shut down and disassociate. I honestly never realized how hard things really were. Somehow, I just kept my head up and plowed along with a smile on my face as best I could. It felt as if as long as I was positive, and putting on a good show and being a good example for others, then the pain would not be able to catch up with me. But it was there. And something good to know is that you cannot hide. It will find you. And the best thing is to honor it and acknowledge that it is there. You don't have to allow it to pull you under, however. Seek support from your friends and loved ones, and from professionals, if need be. Never, ever, ever give up. Had I done so, I would not have learned the things I have in the past year, even if they were hard won or painful lessons. I would never have made the accomplishments, had the victories.

Chip is still here, by my side. He is happy. He has watched over me and guided me and comforted me when I thought I could not take one more step. And for him, for him I walked through the fire. And I have emerged from the other side, cleansed by the flames. New. The phoenix risen. And the three of us shall continue together along this path. Living, learning, loving. Our wonderful new adventure has just begun, and it is going to be full of love and happiness and bliss. My dear ones, walk with us.

My dear friends, I love you all.