Life Lessons Peyton Taught Me

No amount of time with someone you love can ever be 'enough' time.

Big changes come in small packages.

It is possible to love someone so much that it hurts.

Life isn't fair.

Appreciate everything you have right now, in this moment.

You are not the same person you were before loss.
That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Empathy is a gift.

Good people get hurt.
Bad people also get hurt.
No one is immune to it.

Some situations truly are impossible.

Right or wrong, a mother always blames herself.

When you least expect it - grief sneaks up on you.

There is no shortage of grief in this world.
There is no shortage of beauty in this world.

Begrudging someone for having it easy will not make your own path any less difficult.

There are no guarantees in this life.

Sometimes those who should - don't, and those you never expected to-do.
Focus on the do-ers because a friend who won't walk with you in sorrow, doesn't deserve to dance with you in joy.

Keep trying, or keep dying - the choice is yours.

Laughter is good medicine. It is not a betrayal.

Sometimes our greatest strength is in our willingness to show weakness.

Parenthood is a privilege.

Grief is personal.
It is also never ending.
The grieving don't owe anyone an explanation.

Find a reason to be thankful every-single-day, even if just for the fact that you made it to another day. It will sustain you.

Find a way to be creative every-single-day.
It, too, will sustain you.

You can deal with the emotions of your loss now, or you can deal with them later.
Either way, you will have to deal with them.

There is no shame in embracing the pain.

A tiny life can have a huge impact.

You are a work in progress.

Embracing your blessings is not the same as moving on.

There are times when you have to stop doing something to someone in order to do something for them.

Death is no match for love.

You are stronger than you think you are.
You are also weaker than you would have imagined yourself to be.

The end of your world is not the end of THE world.
The world will keep turning.
Only you can decide how long to stand still.

You can never go back to the way things were.

Gone does not mean forgotten.
Little does not mean insignificant.

There is no 'right thing' to say.
That doesn't excuse saying nothing at all.

You can't let death keep you from living.

Every experience, even the most painful ones, bring beauty in some form.


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A side note: As a way to honor her third birthday, I have entered the Reader's Digest "Your Life" Contest with an entry about my experience mothering Peyton. The voting is open until November 1st, and you can vote once a day. It would mean a great deal to me to get Peyton's story in Reader's Digest. Can you please help me out by visiting this link and casting your vote for my entry. Thank you so much!