40 years

So anyone remember playing Milton Bradley’s The Game of Life growing up? It was one of my favorite board games.

But damn, the real game of Life...turns out it’s no joke right? 2020 a shining example. I feel like I landed on the square the reads “Global Pandemic. Pay half your savings to the Bank and forfeit your next 10 turns.”

Eric and I celebrated our 40th anniversary last night. Our life together has certainly been a bumpy, wild ride with twists and turns—med school, raising a family in Alaska, his insane work schedule for 30 years, and well...Ben and his troubles. Let’s just say I think mental health counselors are the real “essential workers” of the world!

But it’s also been an extraordinary life of God’s grace...beauty from ashes. Incredible blessings of love, friendships, and family offsetting moments of some real angst.

So, for our hunkered-down 40th anniversary celebration, the two of us took stock of those blessings. We took a chilly walk in the forest, test drove a new car we had no intention of buying (they let you go by yourself now...yeehaw, how does this baby handle doing parking lot donuts!), got take-out from our favorite restaurant we hope survives, lit a candle and toasted to our enduring love and partnership.

And then we capped the night off with a rousing round of Life. We drove our little cars around the board and laughed at the silliness of it. You try to pick the right cards, make good choices, but in the end, the random spin of a wheel will determine success or disaster for your little family in the car.

Thankfully, we both believe our life isn’t a random spin of the wheel. And each success or failure is always an opportunity to increase our gratitude or our faith.

Some might say our night was the pinnacle of boring. Not me. I think it was a beautiful celebration of our easy love for each other...and I think we are both the big winners in this very real Game of Life!

And since you read this far (believe me, I could’ve gone on much longer waxing philosophically about the Game), I will take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The update on Ben is that we’ve had nine weeks of no hospital events, and he continues to grace us with his wonderful nature. We haven’t been able to have many visits with the other “kids,” but Matt, Lauren, Elizabeth, Dan and 4-year Jack, are all well and in their own Life journeys. But it all feels like we’ve spun the wheel and landed on another square that reads, “You’ve been blessed with a wonderful life. Collect all the Joy!”