#carolinestrong: 8 Years...

Today marks 8 years since Caroline's original diagnosis. As a seeker, I love finding meaning in all the things...so, it's not lost on me as to what the number eight represents in numerology:

ABUNDANCE

INFINITE BALANCE

PRACTICAL AMBITION

First and foremost, abundance!!! We have so.much.abundance (in all forms) in our lives now, more than we could ever have imagined 8 years ago. Although we were hopeful the treatment would work for Caroline, the statistics weren't (and still aren't!) in our favor...but here we are, EIGHT YEARS later. We've had an immeasurable abundance of love, prayers and support from our community...we've endured an abundance of trauma, but also with an abundance of grace given.

Secondly, the number 8 sidesways makes the infinity symbol - the great karmic equalizer, and an eternal cycle of giving and receiving energy. That speaks so loudly to my heart. We are infinitely balancing living in the moment, while trying to process what we've all been through, so we can plan for the future and not live in a place of fear. It's a constant balancing act that I doubt will go away anytime in this lifetime.

Lastly, practical ambition. This hit me like a ton of bricks when Mark and Caroline were leaving for the gym recently...I told her "please make sure you drink extra water today so you can love on those organs - you need to take great care of them because they took great care of you." Definitely not the average conversation with a 12 year old, but clearly she's not your average girl! We have very "practical" conversations in our house on a regular basis...but, we also carry around hope and ambition, especially because Caroline is truly living her BEST LIFE right now, and continuously makes plans for the best life ahead...I'm beyond grateful to be able to watch it unfold.

We've witnessed so much unimaginable pain and suffering over the past 8 years - not only with our situation, but many families we've met along the journey. However, on this EIGHT YEAR cancer-versary, I'm choosing to focus on that fact that my daughter is on this side of heaven, and she's the happiest, funniest, most resilient, articulate girl I know...and a true light for me and so many others!

Thank you, truly. Thank you for holding up our family in so many ways over the past 8 years.

Wishing you all abundance, balance, and practical ambition during this season of Thanksgiving.

All my love,

Margaret