Kindness Surrounds Us

Although I don't have an "update" on Owen, I do want to say thank you to many people. Since finding out about Owen's diagnosis, our family has been surrounded by kindness. People have extended their kindness through continuous prayers, thoughts, postings, text messages, phone calls...

As many of you know after college in Troy, I moved home to Rhode Island to be closer to my family yet being close to my family meant being very far from my sorority sisters and friends. I felt a real loneliness when I moved home. I left behind wonderful friendships that had been forming over five years. Often times I would feel so envious of my friends who were together celebrating each others engagements, weddings, birth of children, and other milestones. Yet God's plan was to bring me home and led me to my amazing husband. Even though it's quite far from CT to AL, I've felt very close to my sorority sisters and friends over the past two weeks. I am so grateful for the long distance friendships. A special thank you to Jennifer "Pelham" and Heather for starting the facebook group. Each day I would look forward to seeing who joined the group and who had posted. It was always a nice break in the otherwise long, emotionally draining day. Also, thank you to those sorority sisters who continuously post - thank you Annie and Hilary. It means so much that you continue to keep us in your daily thoughts.

I also want to thank Michele who kindly used her gourmet chef skills to prepare us an endless array of meals. She made the meals so that we could spend more time playing with Owen. The meals are delicious and it's such a treat to have prepared meals to pop in the oven... there are at least 10 meals plus she baked cookies, brownies, breads... we can't thank her enough! Our freezer is packed!

And it goes without saying that we thank our families. We are so blessed to have such a loving support system. We are grateful for the nights that our parents help with Owen so that we can actually get some sleep. We appreciate that my grandmother is here to help this week as we try to return to some normalcy. We thank our family for visiting, sending cards, and always sending their love to Owen.

Both of our employers have been more than understanding, assuring us that our jobs are secure... and for that we thank them. Our employers have gone above and beyond. We are so grateful that at this really difficult time that they have shown concern, compassion, and understanding. Also, I'm grateful for my supervisor, a mother of three, who understands that the most important thing right now is to be there for Owen. As she always says, "go and hug your baby"... and that is what I'm going to do right now...