Welcome to the introduction post for my blog series: The Lonely Road. The idea for this series began about a year ago and morphed in and out of reality as I considered the hurdles I'd have to go through to make it materialize. After pondering for months and planning the route to take, I took the opportunity of quarantine to get serious about making it happen. Not far into my efforts I had another 12 week miscarriage. Yep, seriously, another miscarriage. For various reasons, I have always felt different - out of place - odd, and with this third miscarriage drawing all kinds of attention to my "differences", I wondered why I couldn't be "normal". I felt very disappointed in myself and in the outcomes I have experienced. I was embarrassed by all that I felt my body could not or would not do. I questioned what good I could get out of this - if anything, and I felt scared about what was to come for me and my family. Before I went in to see my doctor to help me finish the process of miscarrying, I made a decision to interview my grandmother for this blog series. The interview was inspired. Not only did I forget about my problems in talking with her, but my problems were put into perspective alongside hers. That didn't mean mine were less important, but I recognized that I was not alone in this. Of course I knew that, but when you go through a challenge, the old feelings of "why me?" and disappointments can become fresh again. Putting her in focus made me remember that we ALL have stories. We ALL have problems and issues that make us feel small. We ALL have battles that we are sometimes winning - sometimes losing. And, we ALL can relate to one another if we make the choice to do so. I knew then, more profoundly than I had before, that more people needed to learn her story and the story of others.
Orson F. Whitney once said, "No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our character, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable..."
How do we, as Whitney writes, "endure it patiently" so that we might be able to "expand our souls" and develop qualities that help us grow?
I think learning to relate to others plays a big role, but we have to be open to letting the stories in and letting them teach us. We must be determined to make these trials work for us instead of against us. We must be determined not to let the storm clouds and an unknown road halt our progress.
Over the next few months, join with me in learning about others' stories. Ponder yours. Join in remembering how to grow and change for the better because of these trials. We don't have to wait for our situation to change before things become better; we can become strong enough to endure the challenges we face. Join in finding comfort because you're not alone. Though our challenges are in many ways unique, we can be comforted in knowing others have felt similarly. Join with me. Let's walk The Lonely Road together.
Coming Next Week...
Read the experience of one woman who lived in German-occupied Holland during WWII when she was a child.
"Every day after the war, we would stand outside and watch the young men walk back from Germany. Most of them came home in their underwear and had no shoes."
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