Survivors

It's been a very hard week. 

Our sweet Phoebe passed away last Tuesday and it broke our hearts. 

She brought our days delight and joy and her loss left us all grieving. Especially AJ. 

As a mom, I feel that call to fix and repair what is broken. But this isn't fixable.

It's surviving and grieving and walking through the days and talking about the stages of grief, finding ways to distract ourselves and looking for comfort in the pets of our friends. 

Today the sun came out for the first time in weeks and I found myself seeking something in the dirt. 

I never know what I will find, but it always comes with a wash of peace. 

I pulled the old growth out, clipping back the dry asparagus reeds. 

I began to dig up the old basil plants and then I noticed all the dry seeds along the stems. 

The plant is gone, it won't come back in the spring...but it carried new life all the way through the winter months. 

I looked around and suddenly noticed survivors in almost every bed. 

I gathered up the basil seeds, marigolds and sweet peas and put them in some freshly turned soil. 

I'll be watching for signs of life in the coming weeks as we wait for our hearts to heal.