Life is Beautiful

Life is beautiful, oh yes it is, especially the moments that are remarkable. Having a child who struggles with a chronic and sometimes debilitating disease is heartbreaking, especially when they really don't have a chance to "be a kid". This photo and layout is a little bit of a testimony to that, especially now that Ashlyn is starting to experience what it is like to be healthy. Although she still has several issues to overcome, will require medical intervention to keep her healthy, and has to regain strength and stamina, for the first time in 6 years she feels well enough to want to do things that a kid her age does.

She will be 14 in less than two months, and I am thankful that she still has several years of her youth left to capture these little moments. Honestly, I didn't know these days would ever come. I have shed many tears over watching her classmates grow and do things that she was unable to do. It's a huge shift for all of us to be learning to live with a child who is learning to be healthy instead of caring for an ill child. I cherish every moment that she is able to do something even as little as staying up past 9PM or sitting in a wading pool, even going downstairs to play the x-box. They are such a blessing to me and truly what makes life beautiful.

I created this layout based on the sketch challenge for the August guest designer contest on the Artful Delight blog. It is a very different look for me- it's the most graphic layout I think I have ever created, and it was SO HARD to keep all the clean white space. lol  But I wanted to challenge myself and I love how it turned out! It might be hard to see, but I added some white stitching around the grid pattern.

 

There is still plenty of time to enter your layout or card for this contest. Just look on the sidebar for the sketches. :)