A Big Month

A lot has happened in our household in the past month.  We have had much to celebrate, but also some sadness as well.  My Grandpa Lehman passed away a month ago today.  He was a wonderful man.  He is dearly missed, but I also know he is now with my Grandma, and I know they are enjoying life up in heaven.  We had his memorial service and burial 6 months to the day after my Grandma passed away.  They were a great model of a beautiful marriage.

This photo was taken May 22, on his 89th birthday.

We have also had much to celebrate.  October is the month of birthdays for our house.  Maggie celebrated her 4th birthday on October 8 and Colin turned 1 on October 14.  We celebrated the whole week with parties with family.  Andy and I reflected on how we weren't sure we would ever be able to celebrate Maggie's 1st birthday and here we are at number 4!  And how much more fun it gets every year.

And finally, Andy is finished!  On Colin's birthday, he took his final licensure exam and passed.  He is now a licensed psychologist.  No more studying ever again!  I am very proud of him.  Originally I thought we'd be down in Dayton for 5 years, however, I learned 3+ years ago that there is no such thing as a plan.  Andy took a year off from his school to take care of Maggie while I worked.  He spent a year commuting to Cincinnati for his internship (and dealing with Maggie in ICU for 6 weeks), and then took a post-doc at Wright State University.  He has worked hard in very difficult circumstances throughout his degree and early profession (7 years!) and for that he deserves the best.

So what is next?  Andy has taken a job in Medina with a Psychology consulting firm that works with senior citizens in nursing homes.  He will be starting as soon as the paperwork for insurances and medicare goes through (in about 1-3 weeks).  We continue to wait for our house to sell and once it does, we will be buying in the Medina/Wadsworth area.  We haven't quite figured out what our family will do in the interim, but as I learned before, making a plan and actually having it follow through are two different things.  Until he does start work, we will enjoy the sights of Dayton, as this chapter of our lives will soon be closed.

We have a lot of unknowns, but I think that has been our life story these last 3+ years.  The day that we can feel settled knowing where we will live, that our children are healthy, a paycheck is coming in, and life is peaceful will be a great day. I look forward to it.