Introducing....

My team of champions! There are so many people - friends and family alike - who are cheering me on in this battle, but there are three very important individuals, three amazing and incredible individuals, who give me every reason I need to firmly plant my feet on the floor every single morning, lace up my gloves, and fight the fight. They are my strength, they are my heart, they are my everything.

Mike. Oh my, where to begin? From day one (22+ years ago while working at Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Northern Kentucky) I knew that he was "the one". The fact that I had a boyfriend, and he had a girlfriend, were minor technicalities, but certainly (and obviously) not insurmountable. His blue eyes dazzled me from the very beginning, and the fact that he not only made me laugh, but made me sparkle from the inside out, simply confirmed my belief that he was the one that God had chosen for me. Simply put, Mike makes me a better person. He is wise, he is unbelievably generous, he is rational and intelligent, and he teaches me to not sweat the small stuff. I love holding his hand, and I love curling up next to him at night. While he was deployed last year, I felt incomplete, but when he came home I felt like I could breathe again for the first time in six long months. He is my absolute, without-a-doubt, complete-and-total best friend. I love him beyond reason, and he completes me.

Abbey, my oldest and my first born, is nothing short of delightful. I was one of those moms who desperately wanted a girl but, of course, would always say "Oh, it doesn't matter whether the baby is a girl or a boy, as long as it is healthy." Yeah, I was lying through my teeth. I wanted a girl more than anything, so I just knew that I would get a boy, instead. When she was born, I was shocked beyond belief. That God would send me my perfect little bundle of pink was a miracle! She has, with the exception of the occasional temper tantrums between the ages of 2 and 3, been a total JOY. She has the most adorable personality, and has never once (and I do mean never) given Mike or me cause for worry. She is responsible, academically focused, intelligent, compassionate, and wonderful in every way. She LOVES her Catholic faith, loves to sing, loves to laugh, and loves to shop. There's absolutely no doubt that she is my daughter :) She has always seemed wiser than her years, and has a very open heart. She is a blessing, in every single way.

Sam - oh my goodness - Sam, is my precious boy. I distinctly remember a good friend (Amy) telling me, after Sam's birth, that boys hold a special place in the heart of their mommies - and she couldn't have been more correct. Sam's arrival into the world was a troubled one - he was born with severe meconium aspiration and spent a full week in a NICU - and I think I have had my arms wrapped tightly around him since the day he came home from the hospital. Sam has lived the last fourteen years teetering on the edge of I-don't-know-what, but he always manages to skirt a life-long grounding by the skin of his teeth. He is not our academically focused child, although he is quite bright. He is not our incredibly responsible child, although he does like it when we are proud of him. He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve, but he feels things on a very deep and personal level, and has an amazingly tender heart. He is, without a doubt, the funniest child I've ever met, and he truly makes me laugh out loud every day. His sense of humor is astounding, his timing is near-perfect, and he fills me with joy. He may not want to admit it, but he is a mama's boy, and I like it that way. I like it when he comes to me for hugs, and I like it when I can tell, either by his actions or by his facial expression, that he loves his mom. What mom wouldn't love that?

Four years ago, when I encountered cancer for the first time, we were just on the brink of moving (again) with the Air Force. I managed to get three rounds of chemo under my belt, the third of which happened while the movers were packing boxes at the house. Exactly two weeks to the day later, we were at our new base, with a house full of boxes, and me at the (new) chemo clinic. We chose that time in our lives to dive into the world of homeschooling. Some probably thought we were crazy, but my own mother aptly summed it up by saying that it was "the year that Mike and Lindsey dropped the tent flaps down". Basically speaking, we pulled ourselves into our very tight little cocoon, and protected one another. Mike's work schedule was very flexible, allowing him time to come home and help while I rested. Abbey and Sam got to see their mom every single day, and were able to get the reassurance they needed that their mom was just fine. And as for me, I got to be surrounded by my team of champions.

We are, to put it mildly, a very close family. We close ranks when necessary, and we try our hardest to make each other better people, better friends, better Catholics, and better family members. And we laugh. A lot. Not only with each other, but at each other. Sometimes, if you take life too seriously, it becomes too heavy. But with us, our loads are lightened not only by our love for each other, but by our laughter. I couldn't ask for a better team.

God is good - and I am so blessed.