Thankful And Slightly Relieved...

Something happened tonight that made me appreciate even more the quality friendships that I have gained through the years. There are times when you have friendships that are either draining/toxic or just not real/true. But then you have those genuine, quality, AMAZING friendships that make life such an absolute joy. I am so thankful for those. Those are the ones that survive trials and still come out ahead. The rest just aren't worth it.

I can honestly say I'm going to go to bed with quite a bit of peace tonight after one of those toxic relationships came to an end. It's somewhat sad, but we'll all be better off in the end...

So I suppose the question is why am I even bringing this up? I just want to remind you to cherish the good things in life and focus on that which gives you joy. Leave behind the things that bring you down, hurt you, anger you, etc. It's not worth it. Life will be so much better off without it.

This week, I was able to do something that brought incredible joy to my heart -- sewing inserts together for Molly Bears. This organization holds a very special place in my heart and when they asked if anyone would like to volunteer to help with this, I jumped on it. Then when I realized what I was getting myself into (30 bears a month -- 210 inserts), I asked if anyone would like to join me in this endeavor. Several had interest, but the night chosen just didn't end up working out. (Totally fine!) In the end, it was my friend, Karen, her friend, Lauren, and I that worked on cutting out fabric in the shape of the inserts that weigh down the amazing bears. Karen is a fellow baby loss mama and while Lauren is not, she jumped at the chance to help. Don't you just love friends that have such sincere compassion that while they haven't experienced what you have, they are right there ready to listen, hold your hand and be ready to help out when/where they can? Love it. We ended up having a wonderful time working on this project together -- lots of laughs, lots of genuine conversation, and lots of heart put into making these inserts. I'm thankful for friends like that...

Two girls hard at work...

Yours truly...

When we finally called it a night -- 94 inserts cut, 10 inserts sewn and ready for shipment.

I'm definitely looking forward to the next night that we work on this. Not only is it time spent with good friends, but also time spent honoring our sweet angels. There's not a day that goes by that we don't think about them and what better way to honor them than to help other angel moms get a little closer to filling those empty arms?

And before I go, I just have to say that while many things bring me joy, there is nothing in this world that brings me greater joy than the two in this picture...