Where to Begin?

Many of you know my recent absence is not without good cause. For the past few weeks I haven't really been in the blogging mood, sorry. All I can say is-Chase is truly the glue that holds us all together, and his smile can get you through anything. Roughly two weeks ago we had planned to have everyone get together at our house for a housewarming party. I was in my usual party-planner mode, and tending to last minute details. Would our vegetarian guests be attending, did we have enough food, and the two people with special diets I forgot about-would they eat before coming? In hindsight, all of those things are trivial-family and only family is the most important thing in life.

There is no flow to this post, and I can't hit the backspace key anymore. I've been debating for two weeks about talking about this...

The back story is that I grew up with all of my grandparents, and had many of my great-grandparents around when I was little. Two weeks ago I lost two of my grandparents within two days. I was the oldest grandchild and only granddaughter on that side of the family. My grandfather called me "Doll". Chase was their first great-grandchild. He was also the reason our entire family was able to make it through such a difficult time. He brings us so much joy, and we are lucky that he was able to know his great-grandparents even if for a short while. Theirs was the ultimate love story, and their passing and joint services were a testament to that love that encompassed nearly 70 yrs. Although part of me is still in disbelief, I look forward to sharing the stories of their world travels and traditions with Chase as he gets older.

To be honest, I still can't decide at this point if I want to hit the "publish button". I wonder if some of you will think this is a topic that should be considered taboo, and judge me for deciding to write this post. I deliberated quite a bit on this one, hence my silence- but I am choosing to remember the good times. People say unfortunately you only see family during weddings and funerals. This event of course brought my brother home from Wales. It had been five months since we'd all been together. Too long, and frankly Chase grows too fast. We were able to share some laughs and reminisce about spending so many wonderful weekends at our grandparents' house at the shore. Would I have wished circumstances were different? Of course. Ultimately it is another chapter, no matter how difficult. We should celebrate their lives.

Getting back to blogging will keep me busy, I just needed to take a break and recoup. Thanks to so many of you for your thoughts and prayers.

-Katie