It was a very hard week. Courtney’s aggression was high, Alyssa’s anxiety was high and to top it off my mom had to have emergency brain surgery because of a brain bleed following a fall. This week sucked. This week almost broke me.

Today my family had a birthday party for two of my nephews. My family needed this party. Only my dad can be with my mom in the hospital so we still went ahead with it. We needed to be together. So when Alyssa started to have a panic attack this morning because of the car ride, I dug my heals in and said we need to do this.

It wasn’t easy convincing her to get in the car but she was brave and did it anyways. Thanks to the help of her worry doll, Dramamine, sea bands and the music to her new favorite movie, Encanto, we made it to the party. And the best part is there were smiles in the car along the way. I got to a stop light and looked back and saw Alyssa and Courtney grabbing each other’s hands both with the biggest smile. So thankful for that red light so I could capture the moment!

I needed every moment of today. I needed a successful car ride. I needed to see my dad. I needed to see my siblings: I needed to see those beautiful smiles. It was just what I needed.