This year was nothing I expected it to be,

I lost my dog,

The boy I love broke my heart,

I saw a twenty-five year old in a casket,

And my nephew was born.

 

Let me start from the beginning.

See 2016, was the second semester of my sophomore year of college,

And let me tell you it started off great.

I spent New Year’s Day with my mom and my dog CoCoa,

I was dating my best friend,

My relationship with God was growing,

And I hadn’t had any panic attacks.

It was supposed to be my best year yet.

But let me tell you,

This year was nothing I expected it to be.

 

By February my dog,

My best friend since the second grade,

 died out of nowhere,

The vet thinks she had a brain tumor,

The peeing on the floors,

And weird behavior she had been displaying for months

Wasn’t her acting out.

I had no clue.

I never got to say goodbye.

This year was nothing I expected it to be.

 

By April my boyfriend grew distant all of a sudden,

One day he broke up with me.

For three days I only left my room to shower and go to the bathroom.

A couple days later he called me depressed,

I took him back,

We’re still friends.

This year was nothing I expected it to be.

 

In September my nephew was born,

He was perfect.

Our family’s first boy of his generation,

A week later my brother’s best friend was killed.

He was twenty-five.

I can’t get the image of his cold, lifeless body,

Lying in that casket out of my head.

This year was nothing I expected it to be.

 

I joined an organization that encourages women to grow closer to God,

It changed my life forever.

I finally became a member of my church,

It feels good to have a church family.

I started back reading my Bible daily,

God’s really been a big part of my life,

It’s been amazing having Him during these tough times.

This year was nothing I expected it to be,

 

This year taught me the importance of cherishing my loved ones,

It taught me to live life to the fullest.

To not be afraid to be vulnerable.

To forgive.

That if the person is worth,

Not to give up,

Even when times are hard.

Not to leave people on bad terms,

You never know when the last time you’ll see them will be.

Most importantly,

2016, taught me to always put God before anything and anyone.

This year was nothing I expected it to be,

But it was everything I needed.