Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Snapshots Through A Keyhole

Five years ago our little family had the opportunity to spend a few days in the home of a friend.  It was the first time we had met face to face.  Something she said in our many talks was that we all really only saw each other in a limited way, like snapshots through a keyhole.  That stuck with me.  I mulled over it and thought about the truth revealed in so many ways in our lives.  It seems the more transparent we become through the use of social media, the less we know about ourselves and the less connected we are to the people in our lives.  

My life has become both more complex and more simple in the five years since.  And I am returning to writing.  Here, in the form of random thoughts put out where the world can see but few people ever will.  I am also writing a book.  Actually I am the "ghost writer" as I am working with a published author under his name in a series he already has an established readership.  In that book, I will tell so many "secrets" about my life, the ugliness that I have tried to shelter everyone I know and love from finding out.  

My life has changed and therefore this blog will also change.  My girls have grown.  So has our family.  The autoimmune diseases I battle have more of a front seat role in my life than before.  Miracle is no longer plagued with problems from her brain injury although she still has many struggles.  I likely won't post much about that here as that is her story, but sometimes with permission I might.  Angelica is off at college and no longer a daily part of our lives.  I have welcomed another family into our lives, thinking of them as my daughter and grandchildren.  

I am still me but I will be less edited here, more likely to share the ugliness in an attempt to find the holiness that God says lives within me.  As a part of that process, I am attempting to combine all of my blogs as a way to take down the walls and stop hiding who I am from those around me.  

Saturday, January 23, 2016

#ButYou'reNotThatSelfish

I want to die.
This isn't a new feeling necessarily.
I have battled crippling depression and suicidal ideations most of my life.
But it's the first time in a long time I've struggled to talk myself out of it.
19 years to be exact.

You see, 19 years ago, I looked down at my little angels looking up at me and realized they needed ME.  And it wasn't just that they needed someone to take care of them, but that I was the person they needed.  Right then and there I made a commitment to not end my life before they grew up.

There have been a couple of times I have struggled in the last 19 years, but I always could look at my girls and find the strength to go on.

Not right now, though.

And it's not that I think they don't need me anymore.
I know that I know that they always will need me, their mom, to be there ready with my love, guiding them through the next step of life.  Usually that's enough.

Not right now, though.
I'm tired.
I want to ....
.... quit....
.... curl up in a ball....
.... sleep...
.... I keep trying to find a word that I can put in the place of "die" to lie to myself just long enough that I will be OK again.  But nothing fits.  Nothing is quite right.  Nothing, that is, except die.

So, I broke down about a week ago and told a friend just how much I'm struggling.
And that's when she said it.  "But you're not that selfish."

So, let me tell you why I AM that selfish, and why that's a good thing.

I don't want the last thing I do to be viewed as selfish.
I don't want to be remembered for causing someone that much pain.

And because of this, I will fight to find the strength to face another day.  I will struggle to come up with a word that is a good enough lie that I believe it until I can be OK again.

Because #IAmThatSelfish.