Do not lose heart.

This may be one of the most difficult blog posts I'll ever have to write. And I certainly hope it is because I don't think I could handle anything worse. One year ago today, my husband called his mom to wish her a happy birthday. Only ten days after my own birthday and one year after our engagement, it was a special day all around. His mother told us Molly, our sister-in-law, had been in a car accident. We didn't know many details and never expected it to be anything more than an overnight stay in the hospital.

Molly never came home.

We got the call from Dan's big brother saying Molly had been hit by a car while getting gas on her way home from work. The driver of the car was on his cell phone, driving too fast, and because of that, took away our wonderful Molly. A man lost his wife, two little girls lost their mother, and we all lost a funny and warm woman who loved her family and loved her life. We were in absolute shock. I had never seen that look on my husband's face before and I hope to never see it again. I always thought if someone was going to lose a spouse in this family, it would be me. It's a morbid acceptance, but one you make when you marry a Marine. To find out Molly was gone? So unfair and so gut-wrenching. It took my breath away.  

My husband and I dated for a loooooooong (everyone of those "o"s is intentional) time before we got married. The majority of our relationship was long-distance and we even broke up for a few months at one point. Through it all, Molly always told me to hang in there. When everyone else was telling me to walk away and find someone else, Molly never did. She said, "McBride men are always worth the wait". I took those words to heart. I will never regret following her advice. I miss that support now, when Dan is deployed and I can no longer have her words of encouragement. But she is still alive today in the love of her friends and family. It delights me to see her adorable girls still enjoying life to the fullest. My brother-in-law has been the best daddy and stronger than I could ever imagine. Even though our Molly is gone, her spirit lives on in all of us.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

...Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

Christina Rossetti

        

One of our best nights together, that of the infamous

"Peaches" and "cannoli holder" incidents.