Three Birthdays
Three Heartiversaries
Three SCAD "Reunions"
Three is a big deal. Three means no more baby/toddler stuff- you're officially a big boy with the fiery desire for independence and control. Sort of like a mini-dictator. Three can hate and love in the same breath. Three is like living with a tween. Three fills my heart with so much love I might burst... And cause equals amounts of heartburn. Three likes to tell bedtime stories because three has a hard time listening.
Three means less medicine and less doctors appointments. Three is out of the tunnel, out of the woods. It's on the edge of that weird place I used to know - "normal" - though of course we know there's no going back. Three is far enough away for tales of heart attacks to be told with laughter over cocktails ("And THEN, in the middle of my life-saving cath procedure, I had to pee!)
Three also means that strangers became acquaintances and then acquaintances became friends. And not just because we're stuck with each other like a bunch of circus freaks. Because we have so much more in common than surviving a catastrophic heart event. We like wine. And cute shoes. Our children are adorable but drive us nuts. Some of us like to dance and karaoke.... And some of us prefer quiet evenings with a select few. Lots of things make us cry and when they do, there are TONS of hugs to go around.
It's about this time every spring I begin to wonder "Now What?" Not in an impatient way - sometimes it's easier to live toward the next milestone, the next accomplishment, the next chapter. I sometimes suck at standing still. But it's been a big, busy full month of "thirds" and I can't help but feel like I've finally grown "roots" into this life.
Anyway, I'll stop rambling. Here's a few photos from the 3rd Annual SCAD Research 5k Run/Walk (now called SCADaddle) & Reunion.
"We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love."
