The write thing at the right time.

Today has been a difficult day. I started teaching the kids today and it did not go really well. I went shopping after Amy came home and started crying about three times in the five minutes I was in the store. Purchasing refried beans usually does not have that effect on me. Keith has been on my mind all day.

When I got back in the house I started crying again. Emma was finishing a writing assignment that Amy gave her last week. She asked me what was the matter and I said that I wasn't feeling very well today. She handed me her finished assignment and said "here, I hope this makes you feel better." It really did! She gave me permission to share it here.

My Dad! By Emma R

A man like Dad is hard to find. If you looked for someone like him in a 1,000,000 men, not one would be just like him. That is because my dad is the best dad in the world! But not the best father. Just kidding!

That is because he is silly, helpful, kind, nice, funny, and crazy! He likes to say "llama". Once he said I'll give you 5 cents for every time I say llama!" Boy! Did we get a lot of money!

We used to get 50 cents for allowance. Now we get $2.00! He even lets me be paid for some jobs. He always prays for Lucy and sometimes lays down with her. He loves playing games with us!

When Lucy has sticker time, he lets her choose. When she has computer time, he does exactly what she wants. He makes Lucy's school fun. He takes our neighbor to the store, because she does not have a car.

He used to visit our uncle at the hospital. In conclusion, my dad is the best dad in the world because he is nice, kind and crazy.

I just gave a eulogy yesterday. The problem with a eulogy is that the person you want to tell all these great things about is not there to hear them. Emma's paper seemed like a eulogy that I was able to receive.

Next Time: Putting the fun back in funeral.

Let's go fly a kite!

This morning Charlie and Lucy were keen to try out their new kites. I was more keen to stay home and mope around as I have the past two days. Kite flying won, and the three of us went out into the brisk windy day. Lucy with her Barbie kite and Charlie with his Air Force fliers. Charlie had his flying in no time. Lucy was a different story. It was too cold for her delicate sensibilities. I took her home, where she told me she'd like to fly the kite next time when it's not windy. Somebody needs a science lesson.

I returned to find Charlie mastering the art of kite flying. We made a fine morning of it. We even got a chance to let him start to process through the feelings of losing his uncle. I'm not processing nearly as well.

Perhaps, I should be less the catharsis smatharsis guy I have bragged about being here and use this blog as a place to sort out my feelings. I'm not sure that's who I am even now when a little catharsis could go a long way. These pages are about my family. Loving my wife and children. Training them in righteousness. Rejoicing in the good times. Even lamenting in the bad. So, I will just take things as they come here. If my grieving comes out here, so be it. If it doesn't, I will find a suitable place for it.

Keith always took an active interest in my family. Our children did quite a bit together and Keith was a big part of that. During one of his last hospital stays, I was able to use this blog to show him how Charlie and Emma were biking without training wheels. Now there is one small way I can use this blog in memory of him . My brother and I, along with the rest of our family, were often throwing movie quotes around. As an homage to him I am going to begin titling as many posts as I can with movie titles or quotes.

With that in mind ... Soon: 4 Weddings and a Funeral

Next Time: The write thing at the right time.

Three Things Thursday

Here are my 3 things for Thursday April 9, 2009:

1. Prayer update: Continue to pray for my family on the loss of my brother. The wake is Monday and the Funeral Tuesday. He leaves behind a wife and 2 young children. We had invited He and his family for Easter before he passed. The rest of his family will still be attending.

2. Post of the day. Over at We are That Family there is a very nice post about a new addition to the We are that Family family. Check it out.

3. Currently Reading: Just started Ernest Hemingway's Islands in the Stream. Twenty pages in it looks like it will be an engaging read.

To view or participate in Three Things Thursday go to Psalm 104:24 (The blog not the verse).

Next Time: Let's go Fly a Kite!

A Bet I wish I lost

My brother Keith has been in and out of hospitals and nursing homes since 2006. He has heart and kidney conditions uncommon in a man so young. I have visited him in 5 hospitals, 2 nursing homes from here to Minnesota. Last summer at the end of an almost 3 month stint in hospitals and nursing homes I offered him $100.00 if he could avoid the aforementioned for a period of a year. This winter and spring he had been making the hospital and nursing home circuit again. Last night he was taken in an ambulance from his nursing home to a nearby hospital with cardiac arrest. He did not survive the trip.

That is $100.00 I would have gladly parted with. Parting with him will be another deal entirely. I covet prayers for his family. That they would trust God knowing that Keith lives now with his Heavenly Father. That we'd be able to live without him.

Next Time: ?