The 2022 Photo Album

Yesterday, I finally finished and ordered our family's 2022 photo album.  It sounded strange to say that I just finished a photo album from two years ago, but that was the case.  I do not ever remember taking that long to finish one of our photo albums, but when I look back at the pictures from that year, it totally makes sense.  It was by far one of the most challenging years of my life and I wasn't really ready until now to digest all that happened that year.  Doug was constantly working and traveling to Florida.  He was also dealing with some health issues and a serious personal issue.  Cameron lost Richard and struggled emotionally to get through the rest of the year.  During that same time period, I was busy getting the house ready to sell on my own, but most of my energy went to supporting Cameron and Doug.  It was hard and I was running on pure adrenal for the last four months of the year.  Looking at the pictures brought all of that back and until this fall, I wasn't ready to deal with it.  

The best part about going back through all of the photos was that I could finally put that year to rest.  It had been very challenging, but there were so many good things that happened as well.  Meg started her senior year and had a wonderful time hanging out with her friends.  She was also given a job offer from Plante Moran, which was a huge relief to her.  Cal was finding a lot of success in his career and enjoyed multiple trips with his friends including a fun weekend at our home hosting fourteen of them.  Brett began a campaign for city council and learned a lot about the political process.  Cameron had very rewarding tennis and golf seasons.  He was completely supported by the Bethany community as he learned to move forward without Richard by his side.  He made several new friends that are still part of his life today.

In the end, I was glad that I finally finished the 2022 photo album.  It was a project that I was completely dreading, but one that I needed to complete as it provided a lot of healing for me personally.  Next up is Meg's wedding photo album.  That should be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to getting that started.