I have just 10 minutes to write this blog before I have to run out the door.  Think I can make it? 

Today is a family day at my house.  It's the anniversary of the day my ex-husband passed away.  The first year was really tough on my daughters.  Not just my daughters.  That first year was tough on me, too.  Strangely, though Leon and I had been divorced for about 20 years when he died, we were better friends then than we'd ever been when we were married.  If you had asked me before he died whether I would grieve his loss, I would have said yes, a little.  I was shocked to discover that my pain actually cut quite deep. 

The second year a little easier on all of us.  We'd gone through everyone's birthdays without him, through Father's Day, Christmas, and Thanksgiving, and through Super Bowl Sunday (which was truly the day he celebrated most ) so the shock of not having him around wasn't quite as sharp.  This year marks seven years since Leon died, and for some reason this year's a little tougher on my oldest daughter than usual. 

That's how grieving goes, I guess. Losing a loved one is hard.  There's no doubt about that.  Our grief ebbs and flows, depending on our personal level of strength and what's going on in the world around us.  Some days we cope well. Some days we don't.  That's what makes us human. 

The older I get, the more I realize that none of us was meant to get through this life on our own.  Families and friends are here for a reason, and even though it's sometimes hard to ask for help getting through a day, a week, or a season, helping one another through is what it's all about. 

So tonight the girls and I are going to dinner together, to celebrate Leon's life and share memories of the time we had with him. 

There.  My 10 minutes are up!  Off I go