Things are almost back to normal, and a huge thank you
If you read my previous entry a couple months back (ok more like 6 months back), you know that life took a detour for a while. Things are getting back to normal now, my nephew is home from the hospital and doing well and now that it is over, i am realizing that i have people in my life that are so amazingly kind, generous and thoughtful....even people i barely know.
Our of respect for privacy, i won’t name names, but i wanted to say thank you and tell the stories of simple things that mattered a whole lot to me during this time.
I mentioned in my last post how important food became - or more to the point, how important the easy ability to get food was. Every new mom knows how hard it is to make a meal....now image being in a hospital...how do you even grocery shop? cook? find time to even remember you are hungry. I cooked a lot for my sister, her husband, and another mom, but a couple times when i was sick (so banned from the hospital...stupid colds) there were people who stepped up. A friend i mostly know from twitter (and a once a year pickle swap) messaged me that she was going to be at the hospital and offered to bring my sister and her husband dinner. Such a simple act, but it meant so much. Another time, we were having a bad day - everyone was stressed - baby was fussy...then appeared a bowl of soup. Another mom who noticed how stressed we were brought us dinner - again, so simple but meant to much.
During this time, i also won the Royal Winter Fair pickle competition for the second year in a row (it’s a big deal). The spice company that i use for pretty much everything i make, Dion Herbs & Spices, sent me a wonderful congratulations gift of bunches and bunches of spices and herbs. The best part, given the situation and me cooking so much, they came in really handy and saved me many trips to the grocery store. They also helped me make amazing food that people raved over. Plus, i tried things i never would have bought on my own (winter tip...freeze dried herbs...just believe me on that one)
The number of people on twitter who reached out when they heard whispers about the situation still amazes me - the number of different churches who prayed for the little guy warms my heart - the people who i’ve never met face to face that i can truly call my friends and who stayed up for chat with me until the early morning....i can never explain how much that meant to me. I even had a friend send me the most wonderful care package (and it involved filling out customs paperwork to do so) that made me smile and know that people were there.
To all of you - what you did for me and my family - it mattered, it was appreciated and it shows how wonderful people can be to each other. Thank you.