It can seem overwhelming to see all the "National" something or other almost every day but truly, some are fun, but some can be sad or a reality of life. What has happened through these days is awareness. Awareness of Lupus, or Diabetes, or ALS or Suicide or loss of life. Well, today is National Grief Awareness Day. This is close to home as I understand others silent suffering of loss. 

Last night I was talking with this young man who I adore. Him and his girlfriend. He comes over and takes care of my bike. He has a thriving traveling bike repair shop and he is great at it!

I live far from the bike shops that I frequent and since I am a business owner myself, my time can be very short. This young man is thorough, knowledgeable and has helped me prepare for big rides plus patiently answered my many questions about the bike. Over the past year, I have learned a lot about him and his wonderful girlfriend who also hand paints many of our cards here at NPC.

This young man has a dog that he loves. As his family has moved while my friend stayed here, his dog who he just loves, struggled with the move. My friend would share the stories of his favorite pal over the past year and how he eventually acclimated to the new home in Utah with my friend's parents. This was a difficult transition because my friend had to say goodbye when they moved. Well, today they are having to say goodbye to this family friend because they found out he had a bone cancer and they did not want him to suffer any longer. I listened to him share this story and my heart broke for the family, the trip and the season of loss. He will grieve and in fact, he is already grieving. 

Last year, right about this time, I met this amazing woman who shared her story of the loss of babies before they were born. Her story was one of determination and persistence yet she was not able to carry a baby full term. Now she has reconciled those early years and has a full life but after hearing her story, I designed a gift, it is called the Mari Gift.  The reason I designed it was because right when Mari was telling me her story, she said, "This little can would be great in a gift," so I came right back to my shop and created one. 

I have a daughter who lost 2 babies before they were born, a daughter in love who lost 3 and another tremendous young woman who lost 4 children full-term with Brucks Syndrome or brittle bones. She has a cross in her abdomen where they took the baby carefully out in hopes he would survive, which is a daily reminder of the suffering she has walked through. She doesn't even realize how impactful her life has been on me especially as I sat with her during two of those losses. 

I think that this national awareness movement is actually a good one because it gets you moving in a direction of empathy that otherwise you might forget about. 

~Michelle