I went into my blog archives and looked up what we were doing at this time last year. Well, I should re-phrase that. I know what we were doing (attending a funeral for L’s uncle), but I wanted to revisit what I had written about what we were doing last year. It was a particularly trying time. I learned more about and became closer to L’s family than I ever have in my eight years as their honorary family member.

This year’s Thanksgiving came and went in a flash. We had a huge lunch with my family followed by a huge dinner with L’s. There was a lot of the usual chaos: children’s laughter, the football game on in the background, pots and pans clanking, and loud conversations. Time marches forward, and we all marched together this year, minus one.

Life goes on.

While looking in the archives, I noticed November 2010 was a big month. It marked the month I decided to take charge of my fertility by making an appointment with a new gynecologist. We would go on to have some testing done, and then I had my surgery in March of this year. I can’t believe it has almost been a year since I was officially diagnosed with endometriosis.

Wow.

As you all know, we are still on the wild ride of infertility, but I think we have a better handle on things than we did at this time last year. One could argue that you either have children or don’t, so how could we be better off now since we are still without children? When it comes to infertility, there are many shades of gray. Last year, we were mostly clueless. I knew something was amiss, but I’m not sure I was ready to admit it to even myself. Currently, we are going toe to toe with the beast of infertility, and those unknowns that plagued us last year are in the past. We still have our good days and our bad days – that never changes – but I think we are in a better place.

When I think about what was going on last year, I’m happy that L’s family has healed (although we all really miss L’s uncle). I’m relieved that my family is doing pretty well, too. I’m hopeful that next year is a year of new possibilities and opportunities. I’m grateful that we got through 2011 in one piece. I’m looking forward to a lot of fun things in December. The year isn’t over yet!

If you have a blog, online journal, or handwritten diary, look back at what you were doing around this time last year. Consider writing about the changes that have occurred in your life. I’d love to read them.