After a wildly unexpected occurrence at the end of last week, I'm filled with gratitude and have had my eyes opened (once again) to the fact that life is not a guarantee.
I know that at certain times we all realize that we need to value the people in our lives that we love and can't imagine living without. So much of the time, though, those realizations come after a type of trauma. We then get all thankful and feel lucky and blessed, and over time we forget the desperation we felt and slip right back into living our day to day like the next one is definitely going to happen. I am so grateful for the love that I have in my life. For my partner, the kids, my family, my puppies. My career, the ability I have to be flexible and independent and the knowledge that I really can do anything I want if I just try.
Thanks, Dad, for being with Jimmy last week. And thank you for calling and checking on him after the fact. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to know that you were there with him, that he wasn't alone. From the time you called me until the time I got there was one of the longest and most uncertain waiting periods I've ever experienced. I'm glad you two got to spend time together, regardless of the situation. I'm sure you were able to learn things about him that you wouldn't have under any other circumstances, and I'm thankful for that. He is the man I love, and you're the man who raised me. Thank you.
I'll try each and every day to keep fresh on my mind the fact that nothing is for certain, that anything and everything could be taken away from us at any moment. I don't want to take things for granted, and I know it'll be a conscious effort not to. I'm up for the challenge.

'Sometimes we live in no particular way but our own'