As you can imagine, this was an extra special holiday for us with so much to be thankful for.

Over the past month and a half, we’ve settled in to our new normal. Morning wound care, kids attending the before school program, and I’m back in the office three days per week. Ryan continues to heal, and we are pleased with his ongoing progress. He hasn’t yet been able to return to work, but we are hopeful he’ll be ready in December.

Ryan’s most recent check-up was with the surgeon that first accepted Ryan to HCMC and was part of the surgery team that completed the three surgeries at HCMC and whom we’ve credited with saving his life (and someone we’ve been so thankful for). We hadn’t seen her in over a month and it was really great - and a bit emotional – to chat about that crazy weekend. Hearing the doctor share that she really didn’t expect him to live brought tears to my eyes. More emotions came as she talked about how, from her perspective, the first person who saved Ryan’s life was actually the surgeon from Ridges who called her (a peer that’s she’s known since her residency) and told her the urgency of accepting Ryan (another person, and team in Burnsville to be thankful for).

Almost daily, something happens in our life that has us reflecting on all the events that happened and all the hundreds of people that kept us going – and we are SO THANKFUL for all of you!! There are truly little blessings in each day. Sometimes they are really big and obvious and other times the daily grind can cloud how truly blessed we are. It’s been easy for me recently to see these blessings, but I know it may become more work at times. As we wrapped up this traditional weekend of thanks, I encourage all of us to ensure we are taking time out of our daily or weekly schedules to reflect on our blessings, no matter their size.

We are so thankful for you all and treasure having you in our lives!
Come what may!
Beth