So much has happened

When Nick was admitted to the Kennedy-Krieger Institute in Baltimore over 280 days ago I intended to write on this blog every day, to share pictures and information and feelings about his stay. At first it was just too sad and then, after a while, it felt too sad and too complicated and just a little too self indulgent.

Since that time a lot has happened.

Nick has had to find his own way. He has made friends and developed relationships on his own. He has touched others in profound ways. He has changed and grown and fallen down and gotten back up and worked and worked and worked, and right under our noses he became a man. Through this experience friends have been made and lost. People have gotten closer and some, sadly, have moved further away. Some have stuck by us and some have turned and run. Others have dedicated themselves to a family that almost a year ago they barely knew and have since that time thrown themselves into heroic efforts to make a young man whole. Because if all these things, not in spite of them, we have all grown stronger.

Self indulgent or not, I could not be more proud of my family, or love them more, or feel more blessed by God. I have a strong and amazing wife and truly extraordinary children who have all, over these many months, faced challenges that have at times felt insurmountable and they faced them with a quiet strength and a smile. They are my heroes. I just needed to say that out loud.

mylifeinhisworld