Today is a very cool day. Do you realize this?
Did you know it is 12/12/12??
This type of thing won't happen in my lifetime ever again.
That is why it is a very cool day.
I announced this to my children yesterday,
and we all decided that we would have to celebrate this somehow.
I have yet to decide how, but I will think of something.
It will probably hit me when I am lying in bed in the wee hours of the morning.
Last night Mr. Nielson and I took Charlotte, Oliver, and Nicholas
to the new Trader Joe's in Salt Lake. This is a big deal.
It's new here in Utah, and I drove an hour to get there.
While living in Arizona, I visited Trader Joe's at least once a week.
About a year after the accident, when I was in Arizona for follow-up surgeries,
Mr. Nielson and I went back to that store.
We both walked in and began to cry. It was hard to go back.
It was like that life we once lived was stuck on the shelves.
I was so weak, and my joy of cooking was gone.
I didn't even care anymore about picking out flowers for my dinner table
or buying chocolates to hide in my closet drawer just for me
and Mr. Nielson to eat at the end of a long day.
But the worst was when the workers who helped me week after week
for years didn't even recognize me. They had no idea who I was.
They walked past me without saying hi.
I wanted to ask Sheri how her daughter was
(she just moved in with her when the accident happened)
or ask Evan how his 5 cats were.
Or Rhonda if she ever tied the knot with her boyfriend of 4 years. 
(July 2008, with Nicholas at the ranch)
No one knew me, and that hurt. It stung.
In fact, I couldn't take it and went to the car, had a good cry, and
waited for Mr. Nielson...with my chocolate-covered caramel treats.
Of course, it all got easier.
Walking into that store last night, I remembered the delicious recipes.
I used to make it for my children when we lived in Mesa.
I am grateful for the wonderful, wonderful memories
I created for my children there. I can re-create them again and
I can choose to be happy and choose to move forward. What a blessing.
