Thankful for the journey

On this day of Thanksgiving I want to share what I am thankful for. I am thankful for the journey. Yes, the journey of infertility. I know that some of you may think that it is because I have a daughter now so it is easy to be thankful and in some ways that is true. But though I am ever grateful for my Maddie I am also thankful for the journey regardless of where it had ended. During my twelve long years of waiting I learned a lot. I learned patience. I learned compassion. I learned how to reach out to others. And I learned that though I may not understand, or even agree with it, God knows what He is doing and that He loves me. Some of these things I may have learned anyway, but I know that compassion came directly from my years of infertility. I was not a compassionate person before. Well, I was about some things, but I did not truly understand suffering. Now I can hurt for someone that has gone through a divorce, suffered through cancer or someone with a disability. Things that I have not personally experienced, but can empathize with now that I have suffered in some form. I can see past the circumstances and see the person and the pain that they are feeling. I feel that this is truly a gift that only infertility could have given me and I thankful for it.

I am also thankful for my fellow infertiles, all of which I have met because of my own infertility. I have met some truly amazing women that have walked this path with me and I love them as sisters. I would not trade knowing them for anything! While I wish that my journey would have been much shorter and less painful I would not trade the experiences that it has brought for anything and for that reason I am thankful for this journey of infertility.