This evening, the man, Lucy and I are curled up on our couch, watching the third episode of “Downton Abbey.”  I am enjoying some delicious spoonfuls of Nutella, following a quick meal of quinoa, roasted cauliflower, pesto and meatballs.  Don’t judge ~ I believe that Nutella can cure most ills.  And the quinoa dish ~ one of our new favs.

In my experience, day #2 is always a slightly more bitter pill to swallow than day #1.  Here’s why (my opinion only, of course!) ~ sometimes you feel very brave and strong and unbeatable that first day.  And then you go to sleep, inspired and full of well-meaning and ideas, and the next day dawns, and the truth settles into your bones … the real reality.  And it doesn’t feel exciting or stimulating, or inspiring ~ it feels overwhelming … a little like an insurmountable obstacle.

Today, I felt it was important to share my news with my extended family.  It didn’t feel responsible to give that burden to my parents, so I did my best to construct an email that let everyone know what was going on.  It’s funny, because I had all sorts of ideas of things I wanted to blog about today (green smoothies, the power of nutrition, etc, etc) but really, it came down to the response from my family.  It was overwhelmingly positive, which was reassuring.  But it was also the sort of ‘stiff upper lip’ stuff so intimately familiar  and comforting that I associate with my British family.

Life hasn’t been especially easy since July 2012 ~ my first MS symptoms reared their ugly and very unwelcome head, but my mother was also given quite a serious diagnosis (which is not my business to share online) so for my immediate and extended family, I am sure it has been something to get their heads around.  Everyone has trials and tribulations, highs and wallowing lows ~ but we have definitely shouldered our burden for the past six months.

It’s hard to know what to say when someone presents to you their bad news. My family did an admirable job of being a beautiful combination of loving, sympathetic, supportive, upbeat and realistic.  I have to give them credit, because it is not easy to be on the receiving end of the email I sent.  I have to give a special shout-out to my brother’s lady love, whose response (restricted by twitter’s 160 character limit … and man, she’s a pro) was my favorite.  Yes, I am admitting bias.

Tomorrow will dawn day #3 .. and the further in we get, the more the novelty wears off, and the reality sets in.  I hope that as time marches on, I don’t lose my focus and my drive, my idea of staying positive.  It’s a new challenge, and there is no guidebook.  It’s just the man, Lucy and I, figuring it out one day at a time.