Timehop reminded me that we were moving into our house on this very day one year ago. I had to do  a double take. It didn’t seem real that only a year had passed, but also that it had passed so quickly. We spent last night loading Leah’s car and saying our final goodbyes as she heads down to New Orleans for her next adventure.

We were joking about how much has changed in a year and about how much we had each accomplished – yet also how much time we spent with each other in the living room eating food, hanging out, and watching TV. Four seasons of weekly Shabbat dinners, cooking together, dancing in the kitchen, laughing, and sharing stories from our day. Three hundred and sixty five days of life together under one roof has created a bond that will always be remembered fondly – from baby bullet margaritas made in the car because the power was out, to running out in the middle of a snowstorm just to get dessert. Pre-Rory days of late nights watching the Walking Dead, and post-Rory days of late nights soothing a crying baby and watching Dance Moms.

Life was meant to be lived in community this way. And Brad and I have been doing just that for three of the five years we’ve been married. That chapter is now closing, at least for now, and it’s time for us to focus on raising up our own little family. But there will always be space for Leah. She was there the night I went into labor. She was there when we brought home our sweet bundle of joy. And she’s been there every day since, for the first six and a half months of his life. She was my moment of sanity in each day of my maternity leave – my touch of reality. When it all seemed so overwhelming – the caring for, getting to know, and figuring out how to raise a new life – her presence was a reminder that the world was still turning and waiting for me to rejoin it once I figured out my new normal.

This past year has been one of new life and of rebirth. As the title of this post references, how do you measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love

Seasons of love.

We are groot.

This happens to be the only picture that exists of the three of us together. And it was taken last night. It obviously had to be retaken, since our facial expressions were too similar. Now Brad just looks special. And here is Rory with Nanny Leah.  So peace out our sweet and snarky friend! Enjoy your new adventure and we will see you for Mardi Gras!