She's going to hate me for this.
She hates crying.
And crying comes easy for her.
She will also love me for this.
I'll never forget the day we met.
We had just moved into a new house, I was unpacking boxes and setting up our house.
I had just put some salsa in the fridge and when I went to shut the fridge door, the salsa slipped out and splattered all over the floor.
At the same time, there was a knock on my front door.
There stood Grant, Michelle and their sweet son Mason.
I had already met Grant briefly when my son was talking to him over our fence.
Here they are, welcoming us to the neighborhood and handing me a gift.
I am wiping up salsa all over the floor, flustered and embarrassed and I open the gift.
I almost collapse when I see what the gift is.
Let me back up a bit to what happened in our life before we moved to this house.
My father lost his battle with cancer just months prior to moving, and the day he died, surrounded by all of us who loved him, there was a beautiful double rainbow right outside his bedroom window.
The day of his funeral, a double rainbow followed us from his funeral to the graveside and was visible during the service at his grave.
Double rainbows seemed to show show up when I was missing him over the next weeks and became a treasure to my heart.
Now, here I am, salsa mess and stammering, as I open this gift from people I don't know, who just happen to live next door.
The gift is a photo in a frame of our house with a double rainbow over it.
I can't remember if it was Grant or Michelle who said "It might seem a little weird that we took this of your house, but that day, the rainbow was just so beautiful that we had to take a picture! The picture doesn't even do it justice."
I start to tear up because it's such a meaningful thing for me and then I notice the date stamp on the photo.
It was the date of my Dad's funeral.
I start to cry and try to explain how meaningful this gift is to me.
They left us to get back to setting up house, offering help if we ever need anything and I remember thinking "Well, you sure screwed up first impressions Laureen!".
Apparently I didn't scare them off too bad because from that day on, we spent a lot of time together. Chats, walks, meals and more. Michelle became a close friend.
Then one day, they abandoned us. They were moving to Alabama.
I had a meeting early in the day far away their moving day, so I wasn't around.
I remember just feeling sick that day. Our life was going to change in such a dramatic way that I was almost angry at them for leaving. I was thankful I wasn't there to say goodbye as it would have hurt to watch that moving truck drive away with this family we had grown to love.
Those who have followed my blog from the beginning will remember blogs and a poem about Grant.
After moving to Alabama and living a short while, Grant was taken suddenly in an accident and the loss was overwhelming.
Now present day:
My friend, who lost her husband and the father of her child way too young, is now entering a new chapter in her life's story that is bringing joy.
When Michelle told me she met someone she felt was someone she could marry, my "mama bear" kicked in and I asked her if he was worthy of her and, would he be good to her son?
Her response, that he was more than she deserved, told me he might almost be good enough.
My heart swells with joy for this woman who has faced so much sorrow in her life,
A woman who endured loving a man who went to war and came back changed.
A woman who lost that same man in a heart-wrenching way.
A woman who went from a full family to single mom in an instant.
From loss and tragedy, to love and hope.
This is her story.
This is a reason to celebrate.
While we can't always understand the "whys" of things happening, we can trust that there is a purpose and plan, and if we endure, and stay true to who we are, there will always be an opportunity for joy.
So happy for Michelle and this newfound love she has found for herself and for her son.
From loss to love... it's beautiful!
Looking forward to meeting this man who has brought her so much love and happiness and witnessing their commitment to one another.
She hates crying.
And crying comes easy for her.
She will also love me for this.
I'll never forget the day we met.
We had just moved into a new house, I was unpacking boxes and setting up our house.
I had just put some salsa in the fridge and when I went to shut the fridge door, the salsa slipped out and splattered all over the floor.
At the same time, there was a knock on my front door.
There stood Grant, Michelle and their sweet son Mason.
I had already met Grant briefly when my son was talking to him over our fence.
Here they are, welcoming us to the neighborhood and handing me a gift.
I am wiping up salsa all over the floor, flustered and embarrassed and I open the gift.
I almost collapse when I see what the gift is.
Let me back up a bit to what happened in our life before we moved to this house.
My father lost his battle with cancer just months prior to moving, and the day he died, surrounded by all of us who loved him, there was a beautiful double rainbow right outside his bedroom window.
The day of his funeral, a double rainbow followed us from his funeral to the graveside and was visible during the service at his grave.
Double rainbows seemed to show show up when I was missing him over the next weeks and became a treasure to my heart.
Now, here I am, salsa mess and stammering, as I open this gift from people I don't know, who just happen to live next door.
The gift is a photo in a frame of our house with a double rainbow over it.
I can't remember if it was Grant or Michelle who said "It might seem a little weird that we took this of your house, but that day, the rainbow was just so beautiful that we had to take a picture! The picture doesn't even do it justice."
I start to tear up because it's such a meaningful thing for me and then I notice the date stamp on the photo.
It was the date of my Dad's funeral.
I start to cry and try to explain how meaningful this gift is to me.
They left us to get back to setting up house, offering help if we ever need anything and I remember thinking "Well, you sure screwed up first impressions Laureen!".
Apparently I didn't scare them off too bad because from that day on, we spent a lot of time together. Chats, walks, meals and more. Michelle became a close friend.
Then one day, they abandoned us. They were moving to Alabama.
I had a meeting early in the day far away their moving day, so I wasn't around.
I remember just feeling sick that day. Our life was going to change in such a dramatic way that I was almost angry at them for leaving. I was thankful I wasn't there to say goodbye as it would have hurt to watch that moving truck drive away with this family we had grown to love.
Those who have followed my blog from the beginning will remember blogs and a poem about Grant.
After moving to Alabama and living a short while, Grant was taken suddenly in an accident and the loss was overwhelming.
Now present day:
My friend, who lost her husband and the father of her child way too young, is now entering a new chapter in her life's story that is bringing joy.
When Michelle told me she met someone she felt was someone she could marry, my "mama bear" kicked in and I asked her if he was worthy of her and, would he be good to her son?
Her response, that he was more than she deserved, told me he might almost be good enough.
My heart swells with joy for this woman who has faced so much sorrow in her life,
A woman who endured loving a man who went to war and came back changed.
A woman who lost that same man in a heart-wrenching way.
A woman who went from a full family to single mom in an instant.
From loss and tragedy, to love and hope.
This is her story.
This is a reason to celebrate.
While we can't always understand the "whys" of things happening, we can trust that there is a purpose and plan, and if we endure, and stay true to who we are, there will always be an opportunity for joy.
So happy for Michelle and this newfound love she has found for herself and for her son.
From loss to love... it's beautiful!
Looking forward to meeting this man who has brought her so much love and happiness and witnessing their commitment to one another.
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