I have written so many times about balance, right? Well, this is one of the times that I think I did it! So just a quick post to celebrate.

This weekend marked two years since Ayrie’s passing. And I will tell you that it feels more like two months. It is raw and painful. Rarely does an hour pass that I don’t think about Ayrie. about how he should be here, how part of me… the very essence of me and Shiya and our family…is gone.

So rather than stay in MN and feel frenzied by work and pressured to respond to emails, I took off to Arizona with Shiya, Emily, Ian and Ada. I set the “Out of Office” response on my email, and I just surrendered to the desert. I felt peaceful and grounded. Open and aware. The sounds, smells and colors of the desert are so healing to me.

So this morning when I was up before dark working? I was not resentful at all. I was happy. I feel like I am doing work that I care about, AND I am learning how to care about something much more important. Me.