Connected

I suppose that it is slightly ironic that in true Miss Amazing fashion, my month of amazing didn't exactly turn out as I had planned. I had so many fun posts to write about the many amazing things around me, but I got the flu and didn't have enough energy to think in sentences more or less type. A few days after I fell to it, Claire got it. Then as she almost started to get better, she got a secondary pneumonia. She went 11 days without eating solid food. We used syringes to feed her pediasure. It wasn't fun. It was in fact, rather scary. This certainly wasn't our first round in the world of crisis mode. We are sorta experts at operating in crisis mode, or so we thought. This round was different. This time we were connected. Connected to our hearts, able to feel the pain and the fear of the reality of our child not eating. We were connected to friends who came around us in support. We had people around us to encourage us, a friend brought over the most amazing homemade chicken noodle soup that I have ever had and a few different people were available to take on Chloe and her energy while Claire and I rested. It truly was amazing. So instead of blogging about amazing, I was just sitting back and absorbing it and that was indeed such a beautiful gift. Crisis mode takes on a whole different tone when you are connected, one that has more hope than the version of crisis management that just involves one being super strong and trying to merely survive. Then this morning, literally the clouds broke. After days of grey and rain it was sunny and warm and Claire woke up with her trademark grin that we had missed so very much. She ate her entire breakfast and laughed at Chloe's ridiculousness. Since it is now spring break, we dropped Chloe off at preschool and opted for a stop at Verve for coffee and treats before heading down to the ocean. As we rolled, Claire had the sun on her face and a big smile. Somebody on their bicycle even commented that it appeared that she was indeed enjoying herself immensely. Sure that comment made me cry a little bit, Claire has such a special way of blessing everyone around her when she can be herself, and I appreciate each and every day that she can do that.