The drive home and Mom is everywhere...

What a journey this all turned out to be. A lot of time to collect my thoughts. A great moment to reconnect with family and friends. A chance to regroup and find a small sense of closure. Looking back on everything, it was perfect. Everything was as "she would want it" and I feel a strong sense of completion in begin able to do this for her. For myself. For my family.

Kindness on my heart and reconnecting with a strong sense of gratitude at all times. Finding peace on the heart, and follow the path and course of loving everyone as fully and as deeply as you possibly can. Nothing is guaranteed in life and you have to live each moment as fully as you possibly can...take time to enjoy the journey...the drive can get blurry if you get going too fast.

I got up early on that Sunday morning and drove all the way from Lake Park to Bentonville, Arkansas. I had after all, pushed everything as closely as I possibly could and had to be in school on that Monday morning...

On the way home, I want to think that Mom had arranged a wonderful, dramatic, breath-taking, beautiful road trip finale...I mean come on...all of this in a 14 hour drive? AMAZING.
The explosion of BRIGHT, GLISTENING CLOUDS...The magnitude of the rain clouds...the bursting through of beams of sun in a rather dark display...
The rainbow pushing through and putting color into a dark world...

I am grateful for the journey itself

 and the entire experience.
I am grateful for everyone I was able to see and visit with on my journey.

I am grateful for the peace and rejuvenation I felt getting home.

I was indeed ready to meet my new kiddos and reconnect with my returning students.

First time in a LONG time I felt this way.

I am grateful for it all.

I thank each of you for your love and support, for every kind word, for every virtual hug, for just listening or reading, for being there when I need you most.

I hope that I can return the favor when the time comes.

And now I can look forward and figure out the next steps knowing that this is a chapter I maneuvered through and could not have done it without YOU.

And for that I am most grateful of all.

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