More Than Survival

When it comes to my writing career, things are chugging along at the typical industry rate: slow and steady.

I’m so thankful to share that I received notes back on my PICKLE manuscript from the S&S editor in early December. Hooray! We met again on Zoom to discuss next steps and it was a lovely visit. I sat with those notes the rest of December, then dedicated a lot of January to getting things just right. I’m THRILLED to share that just a few days ago – FINALLY – I got my revisions back to said editor. My family toasted the occasion with Hungarian-style pickles, of course! Here’s to hoping my revisions are well-received.

I’m presently on submission with two other manuscripts while my agent Morgan is wrapping up her maternity leave. Actively waiting, I call it. It’s the best kind of waiting there is! Here’s hoping good things come my way soon!

But in other news, I’ve officially stepped out of my full-time caregiving role. On January 29, we moved my dad into a beautiful and very active Memory Care Center about ten minutes from our house. And so far, so good. He’s adjusting well and seemed so happy to see us when we visited over the weekend. It was good to see him that happy. I hadn’t seen that in a long time. However, it’s been pretty hard for me.

I spoke to the chaplain late last week and he said something profound: that now I can step back into my role as daughter. I realized later how true that was. And while it gives me some joy to think about (and I got to live it out a few days ago on our first visit), it also comes with a wave of grief. Often as it is with caregiving, you don’t have time to grieve – you’re too busy just trying to survive. So, I’m grieving some now. And I miss him. And it’s very hard.

Now, I’m believing for things to go smoothly for us all and when the dust settles on this season, I hope we have something profound to share with the world. For now, I’m trying to do more than survive…I’m trying to be a thriving daughter for him and I hope on some level he knows that.

Featured Image: a little photo display I put together for my dad’s new room – I really love it and hope he does too!