Me Too

 "Happy children aren't children whose every need has been met, but ones who saw happy parents, ones who managed to overcome difficulties, who learned to see the full half of the glass (and you need an empty half to do that)."

I have a blank thank you card sitting on my work stack that's been there well over a month now with the intent to send for this very thoughtful gift.

It's not that I'm not thankful - it's that I am too thankful to find the right words.

How do you say thank you for seeing me in a season where I very often feel unseen by those who surround me?

I touch it every single day. Remembering another line from the movie. As you wish.

As I walked yesterday, which was hard in the way holidays can often be, I tried to remind myself of the things I'm thankful for.

I think I'm most thankful that I don't walk my hard alone.

That there are "me too" people for me.

People who also had a Norman Rockwell vision that was crushed.

People who fiercely love their kids but also walk hard boundaries, truth conversations and accepting relationships don't always look like we wish they did.

People who show up in my inbox, my mailbox and day in and day out remind me that it's normal for it not be okay.

It doesn't change the walk but it sure makes it a lot less lonely.

I'm thankful for everyone for whom their family is their "everything" but I also think it's okay if it isn't.

These people who were given to you by birth or marriage definitely deserve to be loved well but they may not be your people. They may not be people who parent the way you do, or who walk similar struggles, or who support you best.

They may not be your "me too" people.

But I hope, you invest time in being authentic enough to find your people.

It's inconceivable to think you could do life well any other way.