This blog post is going to delve into my personal life a bit, something I don’t do often on this blog. While Christmas is my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving is right behind it and to me it truly marks the start of the holiday season. I love this time of year, it’s the time that I count my blessings more than usual. This year I feel exceptionally thankful for all the wonderful things in my life. Just last week my youngest son had spinal surgery and as you can imagine, the last couple months have been a blur since we found out it was necessary. As much as I tried to stay busy to not think about it constantly, it was there in the back of my mind.
We’re very fortunate to live where we do, so close to an amazing hospital where people from all over the world go to. But even though I had 100% faith in the doctors at Children’s Hospital, it was by far one of the scariest experiences of my life. One of the hardest things for a mother to do is put the fate of their child in the hands of someone else. Seeing my son in pain and not being able to take it away was horrible. The only thing I could do was hold his hand, talk to him and try to calm him down all while trying to hold back the tears from feeling helpless. The surgery itself went great but he had some other issues arise during his hospital stay that luckily resolved themselves and we were able to come home on Monday.
I’m happy to say that now, only a week after surgery he is doing remarkably well and we are back in the comfort of our own home. So this year in addition to everything I’m normally thankful for, I’m also thankful for the amazing doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital Boston. It truly amazes me what modern medicine can do and how wonderfully they treat the patients and families. Liam managed to touch the hearts of everyone he met there, something he’s done pretty much since he was born. At just 5 years old, he amazes me with his strength.
So tomorrow as I’m with my family I’ll be sure to count my blessings twice, if not more. I am so fortunate to have such amazing family & friends, two beautiful & healthy children, a business that I love and colleagues that started as business acquaintances and have blossomed into wonderful friendships. They all have been so unbelievably supportive throughout this. Their kind and encouraging words, prayers and genuine concern were what carried me through when I was feeling weak. It was probably the longest week of my life but with the help of my family & friends, I got through it.
I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope you’re able to spend it with your loved ones. If you want to share what you’re thankful for this year, I’d love to hear it.