no. 29: lean on me

dear little leah, 

i know i wrote to you a little bit a few days ago about our rett family and how much their friendship means to me. but i couldn't let the month go by without expressing my gratitude to friends and family that have nothing to do with rett at all. 

no one chooses their families - they're just kind of sent to us and we learn to love. but we're lucky enough to have family that is pretty easy to love. grandmas, grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins who love you to pieces and would do anything in the world for you. i'm pretty sure both grandmas want me to stick you in a box with some bubble wrap and ship you to an 84xxx zip code. your uncle ed chose to donate the federal portion of his paycheck to rett syndrome research {and rallied some other bp agents to do the same}. uncle dan downloaded some yardigans episodes onto his iPad and can't wait to see what you do with it next weekend. the list could go on and on. 

i've always been lucky with friends. or more likely blessed. and the friends i have now are no exception. they have lifted, strengthened, served and blessed our family in ways i could never count or explain. these friends have listened to me whine and complain about their own kids while completely understanding i'm only doing it to mourn the loss of your abilities. our friends here have become our family. we celebrate holidays with them. we have birthdays with them. we basically do everything with them and we are so blessed to know them. they just kind of fell into our laps and i kind of want to put them in my pocket and carry them wherever life takes us. 

it's our everyday friends and family that see the good and bad and accept us anyway. they love us all for who we are - strengths and weaknesses - and don't try to change us. they seem to almost sense what we need and jump at any opportunity to serve us. case in point: we asked ty to help you smile for the camera today and without even flinching, he took us literally. you didn't mind.

i sometimes get overwhelmed with emotion when i think of how blessed our family is with friends and family members. they're the reason we're alive and well today. they pick up where i leave off and tie off all my loose ends. they reach out their hand when i'm falling and offer a shoulder to lean and cry on. they laugh with us and cry with us. they learn with us and help educate others. 

we truly are associated with the best, little leah. i know that. you know that. daddy knows that. now let's do our best to make sure they know it.

i love you, little leah.

love, 

mommy