Month 11...August

 The dreaded month of August. 

When I was growing up this month became the forbidden month, the month to try and lay low. Several bones have been broken in the Foster family during the month of August and this trend has moved on to the Neubert family. For the last four years the month of August was marked with Covid, hospital visits, heart failure, and funny enough... trips to The Deck and beach in Muskegon. In 2022 Mike picked up Covid and it was taking a long time to go away. Turns out it was heart failure. We visited The Deck in Muskegon and walked the long pier out to the lighthouse. Mike couldn't even make it a quarter of the way out and had to sit down on the rocks to rest, we knew something was very wrong. Later that August and into September we found out Mike was in heart failure and he was admitted to the hospital; that began our four year journey to where we are today. In 2023 when we visited the pier Mike was listed at a level 6 on the heart transplant list. When we walked the pier that year he made it to the very end this time and we watched the sun set at the lighthouse. Our thoughts were that Mike would have several years before he needed a new heart, a few months later he was removed from the list because he was doing 'too well'. Rewind a year ago in 2024 and we had just celebrated Mike's 40th birthday. We visited The Deck again and spent the morning at the beach. Mike was skinny, he was cold, and we knew something was wrong, Augsust 1st he was in the hospital with Cardiogenic Shock where he spent the next 49 days. This August though, this August was special. We again visited The Deck and had a great meal. Then we dove into the water and swam until the sunset. This time he had a new heart. As we have been journeying through the month of August in 2025 we are so thankful for the past year and the gift that Mike has received. 

August is full of hard memories and the beginning of something new. A new school year, a new start, and a new adventure. Sometimes these new things are so so good, and sometimes they are so so scary. Every adventure will shape who we are and how we respond to life's 'Augusts' that are thrown at as. So maybe you have a forbidden month, a time where you lay low and try to avoid life for a little while. My advice...dive in and enjoy the waters, no matter how calm or rough they may be, the sun will always set and then rise the next day.