sunshine.

I am absolutely sick of this awful, gloomy weather. Indiana winters are usually pretty merciless, but this is definitely one of the worst I can remember. And I've been here a long time. On top of the usual freezing, soul-numbing cold, we've been bombarded by several inches of solid ice and buried under what felt like an endless assault of snow. Of course now that it's finally time for the world to thaw, Mother Nature has to find a way to give that knife one final twist, and she sends a terrible thunderstorm (complete with tornados) that dumps so much rain on our poor little city that our streets, cars and houses flood with water and, in some rather unfortunate cases, sewage. Awesome.

Unfortunately it's been a harsh winter in more ways than one. So many people I know and love have been trudging through a lot of pain and disappointment in just the past couple weeks. We lost a member of our theatre family to leukemia. A 19-year-old girl from my friend's church died in a car accident near her school in Tampa. This week my grandparents rushed home from Arizona almost two months early to say their goodbyes to my 93-year-old great-grandfather who's in the hospital and suffering from dementia. All this on top of the usual broken hearts and everyday disappointments seems to be a little more than any of us can take. I'm thinking we could all use a healthy dose of sunshine.

As rough as the past few months have been, I know that a lot of good has come out of it, too. It's all encouraged me to slow down and remember just how blessed I am. Cliche, I know, but it's true. Usually I'm such a perfectionist and so goal-driven that I rob myself of so much. I'm so focused on the future that I miss out on the moment. I'm so focused on fixing the flaws that I don't see the beauty of the whole. Lately, though, I've been taking the time to pause and revel in the beauty around me. The quiet strength, perseverance and loving nature of the incredible people I'm surrounded with absolutely fill me. Those quiet moments where I recognize just how blessed I am to have such incredible people in my life have been my makeshift sunshine for the past few weeks.

Now don't get me wrong, I am still anxiously awaiting the day I can swap out my sweaters for sundresses, but I'm so thankful that I'm learning to cherish the blessings in my life. For as we all know too well, midwest weather is volatile at best. My fabulous friends, however, will stick with me whether we're walking through snow, sewage or nice green grass. Nothing's better than that. :)