Family

I went home for Thanksgiving to see my family, friends and Colorado. I was able to go for a hike, play with my adorable nephews, talk with my sister and spend time with my parents. I also was able to spend a little time with an Uncle and his wife that I hardly knew as a child. It wasn't that they didn't want to be there, they just thought they weren't wanted there; and my Mom thought that they didn't want to be there. And thus they weren't there. It is a odd story of what they accepted, and what we as people accept, as a reality. There is a lot of "I thought", "I assumed", "they said" and "I never thought about it" in the story. I find it interesting that we as people so readily accept the reality people build us, instead of building our own. Regardless it was a joy to discover an Uncle and Aunt during my trip.

My sister, Grandma and I

My other joy was to spend some precious time with my beautiful Grandma. My Grandmother has Alzheimer's and is in the very late stages. She is currently living in a special Alzheimer's wing of a nursing home. She had a couple of exceptional days while I was there which was such a blessing. I also saw her on a couple of the bad days, but I wouldn't have traded them for the world. My Grandma has taught me a lot about life, and even through this horrible disease she has taught me more: focus on the positive. When we visited with my Grandma we were constantly telling the happiest stories we could think of; those stories were what allowed her to smile and laugh in between the tears.

No one is perfect, and no one's family is perfect; but when we focus on the positive everything is easier to accept and allows us to see the good in every experience, even the really hard ones.