I love the cool blue of early morning. When you know many of those around you are still asleep and you open your blinds. That soft cool blue spills into the room bringing with it the idea of a calm morning, expectations, possibilities. In the early morning I feel the most peace. That is why I like getting up at obscene hours. My Spotify says “good evening Melissa” even though I have woken for the day. The hope I feel in the mornings for how the day will go is a stabilizing factor in my life. I believe we all need to recognize these and hold on to them. Life is a fast paced, too full, sometimes heartbreaking adventure filled with the ups and downs that we never could map out even if we tried. And yet we make it through every day. And there is something miraculous in that - in the tenacity of our willingness to start the day anew despite difficulties that arose the day before. My step dad was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness. It has come as a shock and a terrib