Night Out Thoughts.

On Saturday, Jack and I attended his work's annual "dinner dance". It was our 1st time going to the event since Jack just joined the company in February of 2010. The dinner dance was held at the Hilton near downtown Alexandria and included carving stations, themed serving stations, complimentary drinks, along with a DJ and dancing. It was a very nice event...almost similar to the previous Navy Ball's that Jack and I had attended year after year when Jack was active duty Navy for 12 years. The best part of this event was it was BS free from military politics. I was able to meet many of Jack's colleagues as well as his boss. Our family has been very blessed that Jack was able get an offer from his company within 30 days of leaving the navy and also fortunate that he works some great people and a very compassionate/understanding boss. Jack has been able to go to every CF Clinic visit at Hopkins last year  for Madeline due to his bosses understanding nature. He has allowed Jack to make up work hours in other ways so he didn't have to use the few sick days that he was granted when he started working for the company. This job has been a dream of mine for quite some time...leaving behind the stresses of navy life, deployments, goodbyes, and being a single mom. The transition to civilian life has been a great experience for our family and this night allowed me to see all the amazing people that Jack is fortunate to work with.

It was a great time for the both of us to unwind while my parents drove up to watch Madeline for the night. We were able to actually hide near the desserts table to spend some "us" time talking while sipping coffee and trying every dessert they offered. It gave us a chance to get out together and also gave us time to socialize. Jack and I get chances to eat out together when we visit my family but rarely do we get time to get out AND socialize with others. We haven't wrapped our minds around a babysitter yet but once Madeline celebrates her birthday in February, and we get settled in our new house, we might just have to find THAT sitter. Madeline and I do play dates with other mamas and their children, but somehow this was just a little more "freeing" than most times we get out.

It was a huge function held in a beautiful ballroom for over 700 employees and their partners. There was such a huge spread of young versus older people among the crowd. Throughout the evening, Jack and I were shaking a ton of hands (which i was OCD about hand washing because I forgot my hand sanitizer!), and meeting many diverse people young and old. As I spoke with some of the couples at our table (whom we knew little about till that evening except for a few friends), I was reminded of how this world is a little ungrateful and too blessed.

The couple sitting next to us was older. They had 3 kids most of them in their 20's. It was evident that he had been with the company for awhile and made it apparent that he was on the ___ floor, implying that was the floor of the "higher ups." They spoke about their youngest child after realizing that I was a former teacher. We began a discussion about education and school today. Before long it became very apparent that  this couple was very well off, had all gifted children, had money and resources to live in the city when they were our age (they talked about buying their house at our age in downtown), put their children in daycare at 2 so they could have "me "time, couldn't understand why parents don't help their children with school, etc. In other words, it was apparent that they had little appreciation for the kind of life they live...not noting that they were fortunate. Instead, they griped about parents and not educating their children. Did it dawn on them that their children all are healthy, they have "naturally" gifted children (genes), they are educated enough themselves to teach their children, and have jobs that allow them to see their children during "regular hours", etc,

The entire time I was sitting next to them it dawned on me how many people in this world truly have no idea how blessed they are. I am sitting there realizing that we have one income, an only child with a life threatening illness, and we could not afford to buy a house even near the city and yet, I feel so grateful and happy for everything I have. I am not sure why that night provoked all these thoughts but I will tell you that when life gives you the good and the bad...you learn to live with it, make the best of it, and in the end become a better and more thankful person.

Dealing with a CF with my first born and only child has made me stronger, teaching children that are disadvantaged has made me realize how even "good parents" cannot always give them children what they need because someone has to pay the bills. This couple didn't understand that some parents WANT to help their children but they cannot because they have to work 50 plus hours to pay for their families, that they cannot be home to teach their children skills, that they don't have the resources/money to buy a house in a nice neighborhood so they can have the BEST school system.

Sometimes you wish you could knock some sense into people. I am just glad that I see how fortunate WE are. It's hard realizing that these people live day to day unaware of what they truly have in life. The evening was so wonderful in so many ways...

We wrapped up the night with some stupid pictures before kissing our little girl goodnight and heading off to bed ourselves.