The joy comes first

Longing grateful joy.

Twelve years.

Two of our three would be twelve today.

And I find myself feeling a deep, longing, grateful joy. Actually, it’s more like joyful, grateful longing.

This year, for the first time, the joy comes first.

When you’ve been through IVF, those due dates are etched in your heart and life – your forever wonders and what ifs. They never leave you.

I look back with reverence in awe of the journey we’ve walked and the one that is ahead of us.

So today, we honor them. And we honor us.

With overwhelming gratitude, heart-wrenching longing, and most of all, awe-filled joy.

Today, they’d be twelve.