Fri Oct 6, 2006

Tomorrow morning Andrew will play soccer at 9:00.  When he is done, we'll all hop into the van & head to Elkhart to see our family there.  It's such a neat thing to get to see both of Larry's parents in one visit now.  For so many years, we had to drive a long distance to see his mom.  Although we haven't exactly spent long periods of time at her house since she moved back to Elkhart, it's good to know that she's there when we go visit & seeing her is just a matter of a 2 minute drive vs. a 4 hour one.  We love you, Mammy!  :) 

We will take the kids to visit G at the jail as well.  Those visits are always bittersweet.  It's nice to see the kids interacting with their dad.  I want them to have a relationship with him & not just live with us and slowly forget about him.  It's sad, though, because they interact with him as if it's the most normal thing in the world to peer at him through a glass wall & talk to him through a telephone on the wall.  No little child should ever have to step foot inside a jail, much less to visit their father.  We will visit with him for a while & then go see Kelly's grave.  So far, the kids understand the *facts* of the matter, but they have not really connected G's being in jail to their mother's grave.  I'm glad that they don't see their father as a monster or a horrible person or anything like that, despite their (albeit) small understanding of how mommy died & why daddy has to be in jail, but I know that in time, that understanding will come & there will be a second mourning of sorts as they begin to realize the connection.

This afternoon, Savannah comes home from going to the Outdoor School program.  I know she will be full of stories & information for the rest of us.  I regret that I couldn't be there to SEE how things went myself, but at the same time, I am glad she was given this oppurtunity to see how her parents & our siblings grew up playing in the woods, discovering nature in a very different way than kids are able to do these days.  I'm just anxious to get her home & hug her neck!  I've missed my little sweetie these past few days!

I am blessed.  Thank you, Jesus.