Skip to main content

Fall


Things are crazy...let's see...
since I've updated, we've had Kenny's 16th birthday.
And sweet he is!!




And homecoming week,
with all its festivities...including all those crazy dress up days. Here's Zach, looking like Duran Duran (or maybe Kevin Bacon?)for 80s day. Dave always dressed up for homecoming in the craziest ways and we have a great stash of vintage clothes. We tried to get Kenny to dress like a hippie, but he decided his football shirt was vintage enough for him!




And both boys went to the Homecoming Dance...WOW!
CAN YOU SAY:
HANDSOME TIMES 2??



HOW ABOUT TIMES 5?


OR 8?


MAYBE JUST 3?


Yeah, I thought you could.
PS. Tell me those are NOT white socks, Eric!

Kate's been busy with dance and cousins and friends and helping her mom with home improvement projects. She's been peeling back vinyl flooring and pulling nails and working hard.



And of course, there's always time to love on Duke a little.



Life is full, life is busy.
Life goes on.
We learn to live this new life.
We even find joy in it.
It's not the same.
It's not as good.
It never will be again.
But it's what we have,
for now.
And for now,
until the promised reunion we so long for,
we choose to embrace it.
And each other.
To make the most of what is left to us,
even when it hurts.
Maybe especially when it hurts.
Because that's what Dave taught us.

"I loved the boy with the utmost love of which my soul is capable and he is taken from me – yet in the agony of my spirit in surrendering such a treasure, I feel a thousand times richer than if I had never possessed it."
William Wadsworth - 1812

Comments

  1. Kenny looks so much like Dave.

    Wishing him a happy, happy birthday.

    ReplyDelete

  2. My friend
    It seems as busy as ever at your house. Left off another ink cartridge for you. Saw you have been ill and Terri says the kids were sick too! Wishing you better health in the days to come. I agree Kenny does look like Dave; of course you can see Dave shinning through in all three. Life certainly does go on if we want it to or not so . . . I am glad you are finding some happiness and good times to mix with the sad times. Love to you.

    ReplyDelete

  3. What a handsome group. The kids can sure grow up when you put them in Home Comming clothes. Footloose is one of my favorite movies. I put it on just to listen to the music. Now I can click on to your site and hear it.
    Hope you all feeling better soon. Happy Birthday Kenny

    ReplyDelete

  4. That was awesome Michelle....What a treasure

    Judi Robinson

    ReplyDelete

  5. It's good Chelle, it's good. It's good enuf and maybe even better. Homecoming, birthdays, football, smiles...I'm glad to hear the smile in your voice. It's good my friend. This life can be good. You are choosing to make it good. Good for you !

    Sending you love,
    Cathy
    www.lessonsfromlou.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

  6. God Bless you all.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbyes

So I had my first Walla Walla goodbyes.
The first was my eye doctor, Dr. Poffenroth.
He's taken care of my eyes for 25 years.
He's more than just an eye doctor.  He's a caring person and a friend.
As I left my last appointment, he handed me a card with a referral to a friend of his who practices in Port Angeles.
I looked at the card.
And realized...I won't see him again.

I've been living in a bit of denial.
I know.  Big surprise.

With all the excitement and chaos of moving,
And all the stress of living in limbo,
I somehow missed that I'd be leaving some things
some people
behind.

I know I'll be back often.
To see my kids and the new grandbaby,
friends and family.
This fact allowed me to forget...
there are some I won't see.

Even though we promise to keep in touch,
Life has a way of getting busy.
Good intentions and all that.

I  have written many times about Walla Walla.
It's a magical place.
Safe, nurturing.
I never thought I'd leave.

People ask…
2 comments
Read more

Being a Widow on Father's Day

This day never gets easier.
never

I scroll facebook and I see
that my children and I are not alone.
So many families missing dads on
Father's Day.

We are lucky.
Dave was here,
and fought to stay,
as long as he could.
He left a legacy that we will
always remember.
He was honest and kind and caring.
He was full of faith and joy and love.
His example leads us through every day
without him.
Missing him never goes away.

I want to give a "shout-out"
to all those moms who do double duty.
Who work hard to be the best mom that they can,
and try to fill the empty space left by a dad
who is no longer here.

For the last almost 11 years,
and often in the years before that
when Dave was so sick,
I tried to do what I could.
"There is no way to be a perfect mother,but a million ways to be a good one."
I worked two jobs.  Sometimes three.
A few times, even four.
To make sure my kids could stay in their childhood home,
to try to provide some safety, stability and security
in a wo…
2 comments
Read more

Tattoo

So.
I got a tattoo.  Christine actually wrote on my facebook post, "You??"
Yeah.  Me.

I've been thinking about it for six years.
I finally decided that if after six years, I still wanted it, maybe it was time.

The writing is Dave and Doug's.
Taken from notes they wrote me.
They always signed their notes the same way.

I thought I was doing it in memory of them.
To mark the way they are always on my heart.
To have a visible reminder.
A permanent keepsake,
always with me.

And while it is that.
It is also more.

I didn't realize it,
until afterwards.

It's a marker.
A closing of a chapter.
Closure, if you will.

I don't know how to explain it.
The minute it was finished,
I knew.
I knew something inside me was different.

Dave,
and to a lesser extent,
Doug,
have been part of my every thought
every day
for over 10 years.

Daryl saw the Dali Lama this summer.
One thing he learned:
Interrogate your truth.

I've been thinking about that a lot.

Interrogate implies a…
Post a Comment
Read more