It is crazy to think that 10 weeks ago I was in the same hotel, my heart breaking as Claire was sick and seizures were wrecking her while Chloe blissfully played in the snow with Jared outside our window. Tonight it is a very different scene. Claire’s body is relaxed and she is resting well after a really amazing day.

The time that passed in between the two has been crazy. We had a very difficult time recovering from our trip as both Captain Awesome and I got pretty sick. By the time we had gotten healthy we had sold our place and purchased a new one. Then there was the remodel and eventually moving the day before we traveled back to Boston.

As much as it’s been a blur, being in the same place again, I see the contrast so clearly. On the last visit I was empty, depleted and struggling to keep my head up. While I am still very, very physically tired, I am also hopeful and somehow refreshed.

Since today was going so well, Claire and I went by the Museum of Fine Arts to see the visiting exhibit of Leonardo da Vinci pieces. As we entered there was a sign with the title The Idea of Beauty and this quote:

Opposites produce strong contrasts with one another, and all the more so when they are very close together; that is, the ugly next to the beautiful, the big to the small, the old to the young, the strong to the weak. -Leonardo da Vinci

It summed up so perfectly why this trip has been particularly beautiful to me. It’s the contrast. From emptiness to fullness, from sickness to health, it takes both to make it the beautiful adventure that it is.