Connecting the Dots

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; 

you can only connect them looking backward." 

~ Steve Jobs.  

Two years ago, my husband, daughter and I got on a plane.  We said goodbye.  From our window seat, we watched our island home get smaller and smaller until it was just a speck in a sea of blue.  From 35,000 feet we looked at each other, no words necessary.  We were on our way - about to begin a new chapter, a new journey.  We traded our swimsuits for sweatsuits, our slippers for snow shoes, the sunshine for, well... lots of rain.  We knew what we were getting into (or so we thought).  A change of scenery, a chance to slow down, four seasons, mountains, snow, the ability to get in the car and drive - forever, new friends, new memories.

We had no idea what the next two years would hold.  No idea.  But somehow, as I look back, I see how every decision has led us right to where we needed to be - for such a time as this.  It is amazing how life sometimes makes more sense in retrospect. 

Two years.  Twenty four months.  Seven hundred thirty days.  This time has been some of the best of our lives, but also some of the worst.  Another amazing little girl, new friends and new adventures.  We have slowed down.  We have enjoyed the seasons.  We have gotten in the car and driven to amazing new places.  We have played in the snow in the winter and gone camping in the summer.  We have felt pain.  We have danced with fear. We have thought the worst. We have cried too many tears.  But most important, we have become a family.

Every moment of our lives - the bitter, the sweet - it all somehow shapes who we are.  And that's why I can give thanks for it all.  For the joy - that gives me strength.  For the pain - that gives me purpose.  For today and the dots to come, I have nothing but thanks.

With Love,
Kim