Goodbye to a decade

As we start focusing on a new year and a new decade, I thought I'd do what so many people are doing and take a look back. I am happy that I will be saying goodbye to this decade the same as I said hello...with Ethan. It has been a very bumpy decade to say the least.


We have been through many disappointments. In addition to the many miscarriages, surgeries and the ectopic pregnancy, we lost family and friends. My Grandma June passed away October 1999 without meeting Ethan. I regret not stopping there to have them meet; she would have loved him. I lost my Grandma Jean as well. We also lost Ethan's Grandma Loie and Uncle Scott in 2002; fortunately they were able to be at our wedding. We have been with friends as they have lost family members and pets as well. Jolie, Remington, Sasha and Cloe were beloved dogs that were lost as well as Maverick last month.


This past decade was definitely a time of joy as well. Ethan and I were married, my niece was born, friends were married and welcomed children of their own. Ethan bought our first house, we got Maverick and also bought and moved into our second home. I think one of the best things to happen to me was at one of my toughest times. Through tragedy I found the most amazing women that became some of my best friends. I can't even imagine not having them in my life. They got me through so much and not to mention kept my sanity. Without these friends, I don't know where I'd be.


I also see how Ethan and I have grown, both as a couple and individually. He has become an even better friend to me, a wonderful, loving husband and now a great father. Ethan has done so much for me, and probably has no idea how much I appreciate him. He probably had no idea what he was getting himself into with me. I have become a stronger person; I never realized how much I could actually handle. The relationships I have with my sister and friends have also grown stronger.


Parker of course is the most important thing to have happened to us. I didn't think we'd ever become parents, but we did. It was definitely a long time coming, but now that he is home forever with us, the waiting and disappointments along the way seem like a lifetime ago.


So as we bid farwell to 2009, I look forward to what the New Year will bring now more than ever.

Happy New Year from the Cramblet family!

Maverick

How do you sum up almost 10 years of friendship? A friend that has been through everything with you, the good times, the bad times, knows your thoughts and your secrets. We’ve been trying but haven’t been able to. Ethan and I lost our best friend and first baby, Maverick on Friday November 13th. We had to put him to sleep. It was one, if not the most difficult things we’ve had to do together. We got Maverick 6 months after we started dating, we actually had him named before we even decided to go look at dogs. We got Maverick from the Ottawa Shores Humane Society in February 2000; he was about 9 – 12 weeks old. There wasn’t even a discussion; we both had him picked without saying a word to each other… he was just Maverick. He was always there for both of us, helping us through the bad times and there with a wagging tail in the good. He was a good dog, but most of all the best of friends.

Maverick
12/1/99 – 11/13/09