2014

Poppa here.

It's been my goal for quite some time to write a reflective post on 2013...but I couldnt really get it out. Recently I realized that the reason I didnt really want to write it is because I didnt want to complain and be negative. So instead of reflecting too much on 2013, I'm going to talk about the year and share how it made me better.

2013 was easily the most difficult year of my life. Easily. So many things that I took for granted got thrown up in the air...big things like Gommy's health, and even little things like Tootie's daycare situation...employment stuff too. It was challenging. It was rough. It was stressful. I'm glad it's over.

But to briefly focus on the most difficult part of it all...a year ago at this time we had no clue about Dom's condition. All we knew was that his dome was a bit misshapen and he had a bit of tightness in his neck. Isnt that strange? He was who he was, but we just didnt know it. Seems odd...you'd think that you know your kids through and through, but we knew so little about Dom, and spent the year finding out more about him. January 3 was our appointment with our pediatrician about his head/neck, January 11 was our first appointment at cranial technologies in Austin for his helmet. He got fitted with his helmet on the 18th...and they were the ones who really pushed us to get therapy. His first PT appointment was on February 6. The therapists noticed that Dom's tightness might not just be muscular and that we might need to get an MRI. We met with our pediatrician on March 1st and he recommended seeing a neurologist...who we saw on March 4. The neuro said that we needed to get an MRI, so we did on March 26. And March 26 is when we finally found out about Dom's PMG. The rest I suppose is history.

Insane. What a ride. What a terrible...but rewarding ride.

Why rewarding? Through struggle comes growth. Through struggle comes clarity. I have learned so much about myself, my wife and my kids through this process that perhaps I wouldnt have known other wise...

• I learned that a mother's love manifests itself into an unmatched level of dedication
• I learned that my family is the most important thing in the world and nothing else really matters
• I've learned that my younger son is my hero
• I've learned that my older son is the big brother I always wanted...someone that I look up to and the perfect big brother to Dominic. 
• I've learned that God will always take care of us. Even at our lonliest and saddest moments, God's been right there with us encouraging us and pushing us down the path He laid out. Unconditional release and trust. 

None of that does any justice to what this year has been like for the fam, but then again I'll spend the rest of my life learning from this past year. This is just the tip of the iceberg. So in some sense maybe I'm thankful for 2013.......

but I'm damn sure glad it's over.

2014 is our year. 2014 is the year we kick ass. 2014 is the year we stop treating Dom's condition and start opening up his world to a whole new level of possibility. 2014 is the year our family loves each other deeper and with more joy than we've ever done in the past. 2014 is where we remind ourselves daily how blessed we are to have each other.

Happy New Years friends. It's going to be a fantastic year.