Catching My Breath

Well, 2014 has definitely not gotten the best start for some of the people I am connected to. Here I was hoping that the end of 2013 was going to give everyone a break from bad news, sadly that hasn't been the case. I just posted to Twitter, which I rarely do, that I need to pull my shit together this morning. From the famous movie quote, "There's no crying in baseball!", I feel like I need someone to tell me there's no crying at work! I just sniffled my way through donating online to an old friend's church in honor of his daughter. He used to work with me but is now ordained and living in Florida. He and his wife gave birth to their second child about 3 months ago. Sadly the little girl never made it out of the hospital due to a heart defect. After multiple surgeries and tons of support her little heart decided yesterday that it just couldn't hold on any longer. I cannot imagine how devastating it must be for them and I hope they can make it through this difficult time.

Additionally there was a 2-alarm house fire in the Joppa area of Maryland a couple of days ago. The family lost everything, fortunately no one was hurt. The occupants were the sister of my brother's wife, her husband, three children and his mother. I think the only thing more difficult than dealing with something like this is dealing with it during the holiday season. My sister-in-law is very close with her family and I know that she has got to feel a bit lost and helpless being out in Arizona instead of in Maryland with her family. I hope that everyone is coping. They have set up a fundraising site to help them out if anyone is interested. I remember Lisa accompanying her father (my brother's father-in-law) to the viewing when my grandfather passed away. She didn't even know him but wanted to support our family and I will always remember that.

So here's hoping that my next entry will be a little more upbeat. Our family is doing well despite bad news from others. Jake has had a cold but hopefully is on the way to recovery. We're hoping to make some good progress on Declan's bedroom in the coming weeks. Take care everybody!