The Point of No Return

At the beginning of a novel, the main character usually experiences a change. Something happens in his or her life that means it will never be the same.

It’s a point of no return.

The character has no choice but to move forward. The way he or she moves forward is what we follow along as we read the rest of the book.

Everyone hits points of no return. Many times in their lives.

For me, there are a few big ones that come right off the top of my head.

January 2000- The day I married my husband.

August 2001- Lance and I moved across the country together and get post college jobs.

July 2004- The day I became a mom. The day the twins were born.

January 2007- The day Dax was born.

February 2009- The day I had my only daughter.

June 2010- We moved back West to live near family.

November 2017- The day Rory died.

My life fundamentally changed with each of those events.

Some of your points will be the same, others different. They can include divorce, drug addiction, illness, death of a spouse or parent, loss of employment, etc.

What we do know is that each person on this Earth will experience harrowing, drop to your knees sorrow.

I just want to encourage love today.

Love your sibling that’s struggling through a divorce.

Love your neighbor that just had a new baby.

Love the stranger that you don’t even know what they’re going through.

I want to extend my love to all those that are hitting a hard point of no return right now.

Life sucks that it’ll never be the same.

But with each step you take, you have the opportunity to love more. To care more. To empathize like you never have before.

Keep stepping.

Others need you.

Happy Birthday (Part 2)

Today is Rory’s birthday. My hope was a day filled with love, service, and family.

That’s what we got.

We have felt so much love from all of you. Thank you for helping us with the service project. Thank you for sending texts, messages, and comments. We read each one and they mean so much to us. Thank you doesn’t quite reach how much your thoughts and prayers mean to us.

The humane society was thrilled with the donations. The service project was a brain saver for me as January kept pressing me into the ground.

We spent the day doing fun things with the boys. We created “Kid’s Day” for them in memory of Rory. We want it to be a tradition that lasts the years. Our hope is that when the boys have babies they can tell them Kid’s Day is in honor of Aunt Rory. Their Aunt that they won’t know in this life. But was here. And was amazing.

Our hope is that one day a year will always be dedicated to Rory.

To service.

To love.

And to family.

Rory would love that.