Season's Greetings from the Brady Family!
Well, we survived the first full year without Jon. That's what people want to know, right? "How are you since... you know?" Sean, Matthew, and I each did some individual therapy. We also went to our support group twice a month. And we talked to each other a lot. There is so much adjusting for all of us. Only having one parent for all the love, discipline, attention, care, planning, driving, etc has taken a bit to get used to. I'm so lucky to have so much support from willing friends and family to help me when I need it.
Some highlights of the year included several trips. We flew to Texas and Hawaii in the winter to escape the cold. We took a road trip in our motorhome (which has since been sold) to Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. Almost 3 weeks on the road was so much fun. And also so tiring. Again, I felt fortunate to have family along the way to help me. I got a tattoo. The boys attended a grief camp over Father's Day weekend, and they had an amazing time there. We took a few trips to the Oregon coast to stay at a family beach house. We spent a lot of time with lots of cousins at various times during the year and we loved it all. I started homeschooling the boys in the fall and it has been a good thing for us. I have a really lovely group of widows I spend time with occasionally who are so much fun.
Life is beautiful. It isn't perfect, but who wants perfect? We're making it through a hard patch and rocking it! (Here's the humblebragging!!) The boys amaze me all the time. Sometimes they make me crazy, but also, they are pretty amazing and I'm proud of the people they are. I'm proud of how we have each just carried on. The kids continue to do well at school. I've started cooking again. We joined the YMCA again after several years away and it's been mostly good to have activities to do each week. We keep chugging along. What more could we want?
May your homes be filled with love and warmth and laughter and friendship always.
