Hey Everyone,

I keep saying I won't write more and every now and then I'll feel the urge to post something. Oh well, I hope things are going well with everyone. I finished my second term of medical school and we just started our third term this week. We're studying pathophysiology this term. The schedule seems pretty intense but hopefully I'll be able to focus and get through it.

It's already the end of Feb. 2007. I was hoping that I could just somehow skip this part of the year. I don't think I've lived through a year that went by more fast yet extremely slow at the same time. I can recount every single month of this year and remember what it was like. I'm really dreading March and April. Dad is doing alright but his knee bothers him and I can't imagine what its going to be like for him to be alone during these months. I'm going to try to go home as often as possible and make sure we stay on the right track. I don't know what it is about being almost a year since mom took her leave. It makes it all the more real not that it's not real every single day. But I guess its the way it goes, after the first year is gone then the other years will just follow through and before I know it Mom will seem like a part of my distant past even though she is part of my daily life. It's my goal to keep her spirit and her memory alive. After months of talking about her to my new friends, it now comes out so naturally and painlessly. I can joke around about things she used to do and have a good laugh with people who don't even know her or have never met her. I'm really happy about that and I hope that I can continue to do that for the rest of my life.
Obviously, these next couple of months aren't going to be easy for me or dad. A few months ago I asked people to jot down little annecdotes about their experiences with my mother. I got a few nice responses but seriously, if you guys have any time to write a few funny memories or really any memories of my mother it would be really fun and nice for me and dad to read them and reminese about the good times.
lots of love,
shaylee