The last couple of weeks have been been busy, and full of wonderful good things!

I celebrated my 4-month “getting out of the hospital” anniversary! Man, it still feels odd to say that. Not the “getting out” part, but the whole hospital thing. I mean, it’s still so much to process, and sometimes it almost doesn’t seem real, like it’s just something you read about, or might see on TV. But, I’m getting better, getting strength back, and have found myself more and more grateful for my life, and the people in it, every single day. That’s part of why today I’m posting about all sorts of good things!

Stuff to celebrate:

*I’ve been able to stop dialysis! While not 100% healed! my kidneys have healed enough so that I don’t need to have my blood cleaned three times a week! This is such a giant weight lifted off my family and I, it’s hard to even describe. It’s a good thing.

*Getting to see 3 terrific pieces of theatre recently. The Last Romance at The Purple Rose, Carousel at Encore Musical Theatre, and Hamlet at The Michigan Shakespeare Festival. Had a great time at them all, and hopefully will see more soon!

*Getting a visit from Laura Thaisen! Laura was one of Williamston Theatre’s first apprentices, and she’s gone on to become a professional stage manager in Minneapolis, and we’re extremely proud of her. It was so great to have her visit, and to meet her significant other just weeks before they became officially engaged!

*We broke our yearly attendance record at Williamston Theatre! This is a wonderful thing, and we’re hoping that it’s a trend we’ll keep doing for the next few years.

*I did ten push-ups. Yes, ten. Go ahead and laugh, but a couple of months ago it was all I could do to hold myself up. This week I walked over a mile with my son and my dogs, and I did ten push-ups! Little steps, but they make me wanna take more steps.

*Guardians Of The Galaxy. Awesome. I am Groot. Enough said.

*We had a fabulous family weekend “up North”, playing games and napping and chatting and eating. We went to an entertainment center where we got to race go karts, and drive bumper cars, and I’m not gonna lie, I had a moment. A moment where I was driving my bumper car around, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I look up, and my parents and wife are sitting and watching (and taking video!), and they were laughing, and so happy, and every bumper car was filled with family: my kids, my sister, my nephews… We’re all smashing into each other and laughing our fool heads off, and the sense of wonderfulness was just, overwhelming.

This is the part where I want to write something about not taking things for granted, and celebrating life every chance you get, and how many times since getting out of the hospital I’ve said to myself “I almost missed this!” – those lessons and more are bouncing around in my head, and my heart, and I’m still processing them in so many ways, many times each day. Maybe someday soon I’ll be able to write coherently about them…

Until then, friends, remember to tell the people you love how you feel, take joy in every well spent moment, and revel in how many moments truly are well spent.