Perfektly Mary

Last year was really difficult, but I was so proud to stand beside Dustin as he made one of his dreams a reality. He started his own business from scratch. He joined what makes America so great and became an entrepreneur. He risked it all, gave up his corporate job and steeped into the burden of being the president, marketing director, CFO and secretary of Bajooter Inc.

Our family made tons of sacrifices to make that happen. We sought government aid for health care, borrowed money from family, went on food stamps, forsook anything that wasn’t a need (coffee, makeup, haircuts, ,house hold cleaning products, etc) and stripped everything down to the bare essentials. Dustin spent a year, never really being off the clock. In turn, I spent a year never really being off the clock with the kids. There were no date nights, no pizza nights because it’s been “one of those days”, no trips, and really not much good communication between the two of us. But what did come from it was at any milestone with one of the kids I could yell down the hall to Dustin “I think Maddie’s about to crawl!” “Christian’s eyes are open!” ” You’ve gotta come look at this!”. There were so many moments that he got to be a part of, rather than me relaying them to him. Those moments are priceless. He also can live knowing that he did it! He really fulfilled a dream! Even if the company is now in the process of being dissolved, that wasn’t the point. The point was to give it a shot. Live without regret. And that he did!

He’s often asked me what my dreams are. I know that he wants to give me the same opportunity to make my dreams happen. I’ve thought about it a lot and here they are:

1. Stay at home with my kids - I love being home with them. Sure I’ve missed my patients and gone back to nursing for short spells, but there is nothing like watching the kids display the attributes and manners that I have carefully tried to teach them. It’s so rewarding. One day they aren’t going to light up when they see me come into a room, I’ll be “just mom”. One day Maddie may not think I’m the most beautiful woman on the earth. One day Christian may not laugh hysterically just because I smiled at him. But today, I am the center of their world. I am what they define as feminine beauty. I am fun and they cry to be with me. So knowing that “one day” it won’t be like this, makes me thankful that I am living out a dream during these innocent years.

2. Provide nursing care to third world countries - I have a box full of medical supplies patients have donated to me over the years, when they no longer need them. I long for the day when I can be the one to lovingly assess, clean, and treat wounds out of my box in the attic. Until then, I pray for the hands that cut hemorrhoids off of little boys rescued from the human trafficking trade in Cambodia.

3. Live in Agritopia> - I know it seems so superficial. Maybe it is, but it’s more than that too. I love the fact that the subdivision centers around a Christian school and an urban farm. I love that every Friday night they have a family potluck at the coffee shop inside the subdivision. I love that the houses have front porches and grass lined sidewalks. I love that the food they grow within the community is then sold on the weekends at the farmers market inside Agritopia. I’m content where we are now, but if we ever need to move to a bigger house, that’s where I want to go!