Party of Six

This morning, I found a message in my Facebook inbox from a friend of mine that I haven't seen in probably over a year.  Like me, she is a grieving mom.  Her son, Patrick, died at about 18 months old after battling cancer for a long time.  She's been on this journey a few years longer than I have and is always so full of encouragement and understanding.  So when I saw that she'd written me, I was happy to hear from her. 

Here's her message:
Hi. I just wanted to tell you that I saw a pic you were tagged in today. It was a pic of you, Brad and the kids. Just the 5 of you and I thought (without thinking) "what a weird picture, there's only three kids in that picture. Why would they take a holiday picture like that without one of the kids?" Then my brain kicked in and I realized that, of course, there can only be three kids in the picture. Until today, even I didn't know how strong my mental picture of the Sievers is as a family of 6. I thought you might like knowing just how deeply that is ingrained in me. Sievers, party of 6. ;) hope you are all well. xo

She made my day.  She made my week.  Knowing that she sees us this way means so much more than I can write.  Sievers, party of six.  Thank you, sweet friend.

Love to y'all,
Tracy