The Climb

"The Climb" by Miley Cyrus was the first song I picked when I started this blog. It was popular around the time we started quite the climb ourselves. (If you haven't listened to the song recently, check it out before you read this.) Now I'm not the biggest Miley Cyrus fan, but this song really got me. With Spencer's condition and the seemingly uphill climb, I feel like I could have written the song myself. Each verse seemed to speak to a different emotion I was feeling early on. Like the verse, "Every step I'm taking, every move I make feels lost with no direction, my faith is shaken", definitely described those first few days after Spencer's diagnosis. It was hard to even put one foot in front of the other walking out of the hospital that first day. I'm a very private person, but I didn't care, couldn't care that I was walking through the Cleveland Clinic bawling like a baby. I could hardly stand or think straight, but then I looked at Spencer's sweet face. Maybe it was then and there I decided it wasn't about what was on "the other side", it was about "the climb". Knowing that climb included my precious Spence made it okay.

"The struggles I'm facin', the chances I'm takin', sometimes might knock me down, but no I'm not breaking. I may not know it, but these are the moments I'm going to remember most." And it's true every milestone Spencer has reached is so etched in my mind. Maybe because it's been the start of his "climb". He has to work a little harder than the average kid and it makes everything a little more special. And "these" moments seem to be the ones defining me and making me a better person than I would have been without them.

"There's always gonna be another mountain, I'm always gonna wanna make it move, always gonna be an uphill battle. Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose." Spencer is just a year, yet I know this may be the line that best describes things truthfully. It IS going to be an uphill battle for him, there IS always going to be another mountain and sometimes he IS going to lose. But the verse I want to define him is this "Ain't about how fast I get there, it ain't about what's waiting on the other side, it's the climb. Keep on movin', keep climbin', keep the faith. It's all about the climb." Being a mom to Spence has taught me to not always look to what's on the other side of the mountain, but to enjoy the climb. The climb is often times the best part of life. If you don't enjoy it, you might miss the beauty along the way.