A "Family"

For the past 8 years, it was just the two of us  We never referred to the two of us as, "Our Family"...it felt too formal or even unnecessary for just the two of us. 

Technically, of course we were a family, but when we talked about family, we meant our parents, our siblings, our grandparents...enough people to fill the dining room table for a holiday meal.  Enough people to clink all the glasses together for a "Cheers" or enough to have "placecards" at each spot. 

When Maya was born, our nurse wrote on the dry-erase board that was hanging in our room.  It didn't seem like a big deal until Dan was taking a video as we were getting ready to take Maya home.  As he scanned the room with the video camera, he stopped at the board. 





He was talking on the video about taking Maya home and that he was not planning to go over 5 miles/hour, as he needed to keep this little girl safe.  As he moved the camera to the board, he tried to say, "Our first 'signature'....as a family", but he stopped before he could say "as a family".

He got choked up.

The video gets very quiet and then fades away.
Dan told me about it later when I watched the video. 
It was the first time he realized that we were really a family.

We realized we'd entered a new phase of our lives. 
We were ready to say, "Our family is going to the mall" or "Our family is busy on Sunday" or "Our family loves going to the Dairy Queen!" 

We felt like a family.

Yesterday, the three of us were at the Mayo Clinic for a follow-up visit for Dan. It is amazing to think that almost 3 months ago, we were in that same clinic for Dan's surgery.



As the "3 of us"...our family....walked around yesterday, we talked about how it felt to be at the Mayo Clinic.  Rarely do you see people there alone.  They are usually surrounded with their family.  We saw a young man in the neurology department yesterday from Washington....with his Mom.  We saw a husband from Iowa...with his wife.  We saw a Mom who was seeing her Dr. yesterday....with her husband, her 13 year old son and her 4 year old son.  Each of these families was going through something in which they needed a rally cry...a support system...a cheering squad...a family. 

We're lucky.  We're fortunate.  We're intensely grateful.
For each other, for our health, for good laughs yesterday, for our joyful life...and for an addition that makes our family feel complete.