This post is dedicated to Michelle, who’s recovering from extensive knee surgery, which takes a whole bunch of courage and determination.

You wouldn’t think that cough drops could be pep talks, would you? But these were for me after my own knee surgeries. Well, not the actual cough drops, but the wrapping around them. I’ve used these cough drops for years, but never even noticed the pep talks printed on the wrappers till after my surgeries…so weird, yeah? But when I did finally notice them, in the first days after my first surgery, I thought, “Oh wow!”, because believe it or not, every day when I unwrapped a cough drop, I really felt encouraged by what I read. There were just a few words on each wrapper, but I took each one to heart.

Like this:

And this:

I came to really treasure these daily messages, and on the days when the pain was bad and I needed to do my exercises, they helped me to keep at it.

So Michelle, I’m paying it forward, passing on these little pep talks to you, hoping that their brief messages will help and encourage you during your own healing journey.

You can do it!! Sending love and prayers for pain-free and strong knees for you. Before too long, you’ll be back taking more of your glorious photos for us!