Strong

Mr. A had been laid off.  Mr. A had been laid off!!  Mr. A had been laid off?? How could this be?  Even with all the stuff gong on with M, he'd hardly taken time off. He'd just had a glowing review.  What the hell?

Our minds were racing.  What would we do?  What about health insurance?  What about therapy?  Would we lose our house?  How long would it take for Mr. A to find another job?  Oh crap. Crap. Crap.

We had our initial freak out.  We worried and we cried.  We talked...and talked....and talked some more.  We talked into the late hours of that night.  When we had nothing to cling to, we clung to each other.

In the storm circling around us yet again, I unexpectedly felt calm, comfort and peace. I understood so clearly in that moment that, together, we were strong.  We had survived (and thrived) that first tumultuous year with M and we would survive this.  This could be fixed.

I had so often felt that the past year had slowly been chipping away at me and that I would soon be broken in my weakness.  At times I had been so overwhelmed and overcome by that feeling that I had failed to see the gift that had also been given to me.  It was strength, courage and wisdom.  It was hindsight and insight.  It was because of what we had endured during the past year that we found our strength to make it through the next challenge.

Mr. A and I pulled ourselves up and forged ahead.