Tears can be a good thing, too.

This will be a quick post, but I wanted to thank all of you who reached out after my post on Thursday.

I have to say that Thursday was really hard. It felt like a sucker punch to my gut. And if I'm being honest, most of Friday was really hard, too. I read all of your comments on my Facebook post, my blog post, your texts and your messages... But I just didn't have it in me to respond--not even to "like" them on Facebook. I had to just not think about things for awhile. And I had to finally release and cry.

I am not a big crier. But I need to remember that sometimes a good cry is not only okay, but perhaps necessary. I let myself cry Thursday night and much of Friday whenever I felt any emotions. I didn't hold back at all. (Poor Greg...) And slowly the "poor me" and "it's so unfair" tears turned to tears of gratitude. And by Friday night, when I watched Pat McCurdy's Shelter In Place Concert #3 on Facebook Live, I even laughed some.

I am so unbelievably fortunate in so many ways--not just through this awful second cancer diagnosis, but through the whole COVID-19 quarantine thing. I happen to love spending time with my husband, and am pretty lucky to have him home all the time now. He's able to work from home. My long term disability from work kicked in before this all started, so we're not at financial risk and can afford the little extra to order groceries and not have to shop in the store. And I have been able to FaceTime or Zoom or even talk on the phone with so many people now that we're all in the same boat.

I've been out (at least a little) every day on the bike for #30days of biking. Even though it's hard to breathe through a face mask while exercising, the fresh air and occasional sunshine helps!

And the coolest thing happened yesterday afternoon. My neighbor (and friend) Tracy had her artist friend JBird make the most amazing chalk drawing on my front sidewalk. Better yet, I could sit in my recliner in the sun and watch him create. Is this not the most beautiful thing?

(And if you need another positive in today's world, I just read an article that says that Wisconsin's "Safer At Home" orders are working to flatten the curve.)

Be well, everyone. I love you.