When I heard that my heart was touched forever, in a good way. What a perfect time to hear that, year number eleven with Mandy gone. My beautiful butterfly.

I remember how we used to approach February Fifth… with great sadness, possibly anger, and totally lost. The first couple of years we made plans for the day, so we were prepared for the heartache. As time passed, we tried other approaches. To be honest not much really worked.

Ten years ago, three months after our daughter Amanda died, Bob’s cousin and wife lost their son Eric. I was driving home from Melbourne when Bob called me. He was devastated. Hard to believe that a cousin he grew up with was now starting this journey with us. Although our friendship with Gary and Peggy was always “good” we would now be connected in a way we had never anticipated nor wanted.

Flowers, trees filling in with new leaves, great smells—love all of it! The new life it symbolizes is refreshing and renewing. Nothing ever stays the same. ❤ Nothing ever stays the same.

That kind of says it all, right? We have our lives heading in one direction, and whoosh we are spinning around, and heading the opposite way. Most of the time we aren’t really certain what hit us.