everybody hurts.

Things are getting harder and harder around here.

Well, no...only one thing is:

Joe's dad isn't doing well at all.

I have mentioned to a couple of people that, as an eternal optimist, I have been looking for the good that is coming from this...and I have realized that there is at least one positive in the midst of so much difficulty.

Basically, I'm coming to learn just how deeply I care for Joe--and his entire family--because I am learning, too, what it is to be truly selfless. Now, I would not consider myself to be selfish by nature, but I think it's a fair assessment of all humanity that we are more selfish than we'd like to believe. But, with this, things are different--I am finding myself putting Joe before me, making his needs a priority over my own. I am still getting my work done, I am still maintaining the responsibilities that I could so easily abandon, but my priorities have shifted.

Looking back on this school year, it is hard to believe all of the things that have happened that have had a deep emotional impact, among other things. Katrina, and especially the way it impacted the Homans, really got to me. And all of this BRCA business and the MRI scares and long waiting in between appointments took their toll on me. And Grampa dying. And, now, Joe's dad dying.

But there have been some really amazing and wonderful things that have happened this year too. Field Ed. at CHUP has changed my life. Meeting Joe. Going to New Orleans and Chicago. SBL and the Tel Zayit Inscription announcement.

Wow.

I don't think I had any issues with maturity at the start of this year, but I see in myself lots of ways in which I have grown. And a few other people have pointed that out to me as well. And, with that growth has come the ability to more clearly figure out where I belong in life.

I never thought I would be staying in Pittsburgh. I wasn't even excited about moving here in the first place...Clevelanders don't move to Pittsburgh and Pittsburghers don't move to Cleveland. And yet, I feel more confident than ever that this is exactly where I belong.

:0)

As a side note, Mom, Dad, Joe, and I are going to lunch at Bahama Breeze on Saturday. That will be good. :0)

Bye.