Year in Review.. Lucia's perspective

It's usually about this time of year I start thinking about a review of what we did this year, but as I thought of what we did for the year my memory went something like this:

January: Mysterious aches and pains increase while all else fogs into bare minimum survival

February: " "

March: " "

April: " "

(this is a little twilight New Moon-ish isn't it?)

Athen turns 3!

May: Diagnosis of Rheumatoid arthritis, and beginning of steroids, weekly low-dose chemo pills, and just like that my body becomes a hazardous environment for any living thing, so, no more babies folks, but hope in sight for those awful joints!

Lincoln turns 1!

Diego turns 5!

June: Jason leaves to summer internship in NYC, mom comes to help for the summer. Trip to Iowa!

July: Jason spends my birthday weekend home!

August: Jason is home for good! Linlcoln and I get the cozy job of escorting Grandma back to San Diego where Grandpa is waiting for her.

September: Diego's first day of kindergarten. Lucia's first Humira injection (fancy!)

October: Brooklyn's Birthday

November: Thanksgiving in Buffalo

December: Christmas! YAY!!!

So... as you can see I have been distracted this year, it was a tough year, and I can't think of any way to describe the shock of it other than comparing it to the first few days/weeks after labor where you shutter at the thought of going through that physical trauma again. Removed from the daze of survival mode, it's still terror-inducing to imagine another such year. However, the fact that I am indeed removed from that survival mode means I have LOTS to be thankful for! What a relief to be on the upswing and functioning again. So many others are not so lucky with their trials, and that fact has really sobered me on those days where I just needed to get over it, get over myself already! It's cliche to say, but so true that when I look at the trials of many others compared to my own, I couldn't imagine trading. I feel like mine is an easy, minuscule, watered down version of the challenges so many other's face. I am so so so blessed! So, while my memories are still recovering from shock, I can't think of this as a bad year. How can it be bad, when everything is so good? But I do think we might have better luck and more accuracy of the details if Jason posted what actually happened this year!