Drawing from Drew

And just like that, 2020 is over!  We’re starting a new year, having a fresh beginning.  Or are we? Our family had a nice last day of 2020. Like much of the year, we weren’t able to do some of things we’ve done in the past to ring in the new year–attend a party, go…

 I thought I had gotten through all of the “firsts” without Drew.  But four years later, another first came up this month–the first Presidential election night.  Now you wouldn’t think that would be too significant of a first, that it would trigger a huge wave of emotion.  But the last time we all held our…

Its been a while since I’ve added a post on here, and its because we’ve been busy for a change! Well, okay, to be fair, we’ve had a pretty busy year actually.  But in a year that has forced us all to slow down our daily lives, our fall sure has been full! We’ve traveled…

It’s been a while since I’ve written on here!  The time has gone fast–I can’t believe its been almost 4 months since we moved to Colorado. But at the same time, I’d say we do feel settled into our new home, and have found our “new normal”, for now at least.  The last of the…

Seems crazy that a whole month has gone by since we made the journey west to our new home in Colorado! But it has. And once again, a whole lot has happened in the last month, but somehow not a lot has happened in a way too. I’ll start from the beginning! The moving team…

Somehow, we’ve arrived at our last days in Chicagoland. A lot has happened since mid-March, though at the same time it feels like not much has happened at all. This period of restrictions and social isolation reminds me of the SAHM with little kids season–the days are long, but the weeks fly by. We made…

Our Drew would be 6 years old tomorrow, April 1st. Six. About to finish Kindergarten. Probably learning how to read his first words, beginning to write his name, riding a bike, and having some friends of his own. It’s hard to imagine what he’d look like, or how he’d sound now. Or what our family…

We have news to share–our family will be on the move again! This time to the beautiful state of Colorado. Josh was offered a great opportunity within his company, Hormel Foods, at another subsidiary–Justin’s Nut Butters. It will be a change from the meatballs, sausage links, and Italian beef we’ve been enjoying from Fontanini, but…

Last Sunday, January 19th, marked three years since our Drew was set free. Free from the body that caused him so much trouble in his short life. Free from feeling sick, from being sore, from fevers and from fatigue. Free from hospital rooms, from clinic appointments, from scans and from procedures. Free from feeding tubes,…

There was a day in early November, when more time had passed since Drew’s death, then the amount of time he was alive. I’ve been anticipating the day since I realized early on in my grief how relatively soon it would come. His life was so short, and we have so much left of our…

Its funny how often we tell ourselves things will slow down “when…” When baseball season is over, once the kids get a little older, after the holidays are through.  But sometimes, it just doesn’t slow down, the business only shifts. Changes direction, but still has you going from one thing to the next. This year…

Well, I knew it would be a whirl wind of a summer–and it was. We had so much fun and made some memories that will last a lifetime. It went so fast–Molly had her first full week of school last week! And in the evening this weekend, we needed our long sleeves as we sat…

Summer is about to begin. In some ways, we’ve already began some of it’s activities. Warm weather was a long time a comin’ it seems, and since it’s been nice we’ve gotten outside to enjoy it! Exploring our new home in the sunshine. The park, eating meals out on our patio, going for walks on…

A friend of mine gave us a collapsible wagon for my birthday. To “lighten my load” the card said. And it did. It was just a few months into Drew’s treatment–he had just turned two, and the umbrella stroller wasn’t cutting it anymore but I was kind of over the big stroller. I’d get Drew…

The power went out recently in our neighborhood.  We had just finished supper, I was beginning to clean up the kitchen and as I opened the fridge, everything went out.  It tried to come on a couple times, but to no success.  Josh, Molly, and I just kind of waited around for a moment, figuring…

We just got back from our first big family vacation, just us 3. It went so well. I really think it couldn’t have gone better! Molly is at such a good age–old enough to keep her stuff together, but young enough to still have that wonder and joy of childhood. Prayers of safe travels, safety…

It’s been over 4 months since we’ve been in our new home here in Illinois. And in the last couple weeks I’ve felt the shift from not only being settled in, but starting to fit in too. Having some real friendships grow in the places we plugged into those first few weeks: the gym, CBS,…

We survived #polarvortex2019. It was a long week, I’m not gonna lie. We started off with the best intentions, and attitude! Molly and I went into it prepared: we got groceries, stopped at the library for some new entertainment, and made a plan for how to spend our days. In total she was home with…

The pictures from our Make-a-Wish trip to Disney World really got to me as they popped up each day in my Facebook “Timehop” from two years ago. Oh, what a magical week that was. After a year of intense, back to back, to back!, treatment with Drew, our family finally got an escape.  Where brother,…

Its been a busy December!  A few weeks ago I got a call from the JayCees of Minnesota letting me know I was nominated and selected for their Top Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotan award! I was aware that a lady from Austin nominated me back in August, but had forgotten all about it with all…