You were truly a bittersweet year. We spent the first 4 months of the year with Hunter spending 3-5 days a week in the field. Sunshine turned 5 (which was HUGE!), we said good bye to her beloved Pierce Chapel Preschool. (which was hard!) .
Summer was hands down, the hardest ever. Hunter's PTSD came to a head. He was transferred from his unit to the Warrior Transition Brigade & started getting therapy for PTSD, TBI & various physical issues. During that same time, Sunshine & I were going to VT to see my parents as Daddy wasn't doing well. At all. We had a fun couple days in Boston on our first Mommy/Sunshine trip. Then Daddy went into the hospital the day after we left VT & would die there 3 days later.
While we were working through our grief & issues we began house hunting, partly because it was the right time financially, but also b/c it gave us something to focus on. Two weeks fter we started looking & a week after starting to look at houses, we bought one!
We're still working on the kitchen (counters & floors are coming up), but it feels like home. And that's what counts. We chose wisely which makes me feel good.
We had a wonderful holiday season, complete with family & friends. We decided to stay home this year & enjoy our first Christmas in our new house. Decorating was fun, we established new traditions (using the Spode Christmas dishes as daily dishes between Thanksgiving & New Year's Day) & enjoyed some older ones (Sunshine waking up Christmas morning to discover Santa left a chocolate kiss on her pillow, going to see Santa, Fantasy in Lights, etc).
The knitting front suffered this year. 18 FOs. Wow. A new low! I guess with all the challenges this year brought, it was to be expected. And I blame Facebook. And Farmville.
So as I say good bye to you, 2009, it's with both sadness & joy. You weren't a bad year, all things considered.
I had no idea that your husband was/is dealing with PTSD. Somehow missed that in your posts. I hope he is doing better. Chris struggled with returning to a normal work life after his deployment. It was challenging for him. Very different from being in Iraq. I hope you have a great new year. -E
ReplyDeleteHey Em, I didn't really talk about it much on here. But yes, full blown PTSD. He was diagnosed this summer, but hindsight being 20/20, he was showing signs of it in '06 after coming home from his 2nd tour. The schedule of a year home/year gone really did a number on him, as well as several of his friends.
ReplyDeleteRight now he's in the process of being medically retired (which was a scary thought) & we're learning that he's actually in a good position as his ailments qualify for a decent disability pay & that WTB will help with job placement (either DOD or contractor on post).
Happy New Year to you, Chris & that darling boy!
I also didn't know what was going on with Hunter. Give him big hugs and thanks from us for serving!!
ReplyDeleteI can do you 1 better on the FO's - 6!!! and only 3 socks.
bummer
happy new year and see you on fb :)
My finished object count is pretty poor this year...but the bat shawl did make it into the count...whew!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that Hunter is struggling with so much. We don't often get to chat about our families. I hope 2010 brings lots of healing along with happiness and prosperity. {{hugs}}