Hello 2017

Good-Bye 2016!!

What a year you have been! And not just to me, but to the media & some of our favorite people of fame.

You've had your ups, & your downs. You've brought sadness & joy, fear & courage, loss & gain, & many other things I don't have time or space to list.

Before you are just a figment of our memory, never to be spoken of again, I just wanted to say "Thank you."

Thank you:

For introducing me to some of my favorite people,

For teaching me to have a little more faith,

For showing me what it's like to love, & to feel loved,

For teaching me to endure, & showing me the joy in enduring joyfully,

For reminding me how to be like a child & have fun,

For showing me the joy of service,

For reminding me that in the midst of trials, there is always hope,

And, for helping me remember the joy of family.

The growth I've had to endure this past year has been so painful, & I know growth is never easy. But I look back now on 2016 & I am so very grateful for that pain. I know that being uncomfortable is sometimes the only way we can be comforted, & the comfort is so much more beautiful amidst pain.

Thank you for everything 2016, it's been real.