Just short of a year

I was thinking today about where we are now compared to a year ago. On Wednesday, her OT told me we would be switching to every other week appointments so that we could prepare for discharge.  It's hard to believe we have made it this far. A year ago, I couldn't even watch my child around other kids without crying.  Even though it's still hard sometimes,  I find it is getting easier. Most days, I don't feel like shutting my family away and sheltering them from the ignorance of the world. Most days, I am able to get up and fight again. I'm no longer angry at Heavenly Father. I feel like we are seeing the sun after a dreadfully long winter.
I've come to realize how beautiful our little world is. It's far from perfect,  but every little part of it is amazing.  I still get overwhelmed and I still worry about Liz's future (especially the up coming school year), but for the most part I feel like I am handling things better. When the hard days come, I try to take it one tiny step at a time. I try to make it minute to minute. And when darkness falls, and she's finally sleeping I lay down with her, and think of how truly blessed I am.
I never thought this would be a road I would travel. I never thought I would be a parent to a special needs child.  I always felt pity for people like me, and I wondered how they did it. The truth is you just do it.  There's not another option. I'm not an amazing super mom. I'm not your Susie homemaker. I'm just a woman who loves her child,  and would do anything to see her happy. It requires me to fight a little harder, breathe a little deeper, and find more beauty in the rain. In the end,  I'm just doing what any mom would do.
I suppose the month of June will be a month of reflection for me, a month to realize how far we have come.  It will be a month to just be grateful.