Tags
depression, family, life, maternity leave, new years, parenthood, parents, pregnancy
I have mixed feelings about the passing of 2015.
Some parts of 2015 really sucked. My husband nearly killed himself, I ended up heavily pregnant, with a bacterial infection, working and caring for our four year old who also had a bacterial infection, while he was stuck in the hospital and unable to help.
My father broke his hip and overall has deteriorated markedly in his health.
My relationship with my son deteriorated, as my capacity to tolerate his extroverted highjinks hit a new low.
I spent a significant amount of this year coughing, exhausted, diabetic, extremely stressed, half-expecting to become a widow at any moment, researching the potential cost of burying my husband, and wearing Depends because I kept wetting myself.
On the other hand…
This year also brought me the generosity and love of the friends and relations who came streaming in to help during these difficult times. There were friends who picked Owl up at daycare when I was stuck at the hospital, and friends who brought Chinese food so that I wouldn’t have to cook, or took Owl for play dates so I could nap.
There was my mother in law, who is terrified of flying and financially limited, flying in TWICE to spend a grand total of three months sleeping on our couch, just to help.
On the first visit she made me diabetes-friendly meals and arranged snacks for me at a time when I was working and exhausted and could never have kept up the dietary management that was expected of me on my own. She put my son to bed at night and made him breakfast in the morning, she read to him and joked with him and brought some humor and pleasantry to a home that was seething in stress.
On her return she cooked and cleaned, entertained Owl and then held the baby so I could shower, get dressed, eat meals, and spend some quality time with my son.
And in between those visits, my parents flew in for four months. They took money from their nest egg to rent a place nearby, and my mother drove back and forth making meals and snacks, cleaning, and reading Owl bedtime stories.
Not only did it bring me much needed aid, but I got to spend time with my father while he still knows who I am.
And this year brought me Fritter, who made a safe landing on the shores of time and gave us the gift of a colic-free fourth trimester. She brings me joy every day with her grins and chortles, and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.
And with all of those months of support from our family, PH was able to retreat and rest and begin healing. While he is still very ill, I have seen more of the old Perfect Husband in the last three months than I have in the past two years. There are mornings when I come downstairs to find breakfast laid out for me, afternoons when he greets me at the door to take my coat and offer me a drink, and evenings when he rubs my feet and offers to run me a bath.
Whenever he has a good day, I feel like I could suffer another two years just for a chance at more days like that.
I feel like I could kiss 2015 for bringing me even one day like that, let alone as many as I have been gifted with these last few months.
2015 also brought me maternity leave, which I love because I am a lazy slob. I love being home with my baby and watching The Walking Dead or writing during her naps. It’s way better than working. I’m sad that there are only a few more months left. I have a lot of writing to get down in that time.
Yes, over all I am very grateful to 2015. I feel like it got handed a terrible set of cards but it played them all right.
2015 for me was a year of defeat and renewal, of family and love.
We survived it, and maybe it has made us stronger.
If 2016 can keep up with this upward trend, I think I can look forward to the coming year.
And if it can’t… well… Bring it, 2016.
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