A Grandpaw and a Gun

    

    I don't know if this picture matches the Easter we spent with my grandparents, the memory seems to match the age. 

My Grandmaw Irene, Grandpaw Lloyd, Kim, Karen and me. 

   My cousin, Kim, no doubt my first best friend. No matter when we had the chance to see each other, from my earliest memory of her, it was always a happy time. I was always excited. 

   This Easter, I remember her and I sleeping on a fold-out sofa bed. When we woke up in the morning, the Easter baskets were no where to be found. I I can still see so clearly, Kim and I sitting on the bed and looking at my Grandpaw at the door. His story: he shot the Easter Bunny when he was jumping out of the window, and that was why we didn't have any Easter baskets! The thought that the bunny was dead was just horrible, my little child mind couldn't grasp that idea. Thinking about it now ,

I'm not surprised by his story, it was his niche-storytelling. 

   And the final memory, walking in the front room, my grandparent's room, and finding our baskets sitting there. I still have the basket. 💛💚💜

And it Worked!

Thanksgiving Week, a "little" cousin, a wedding, a road trip, and some magical lanterns.
Out of nine grandchildren, there are only two boys.  The oldest, Paul, got married on Friday.  A rare wedding opportunity in our family.  It's been a few years since we had one.  Our family is scattered a bit across the United States. But, somehow, the stars aligned and we managed to get a few of us together for the celebration. These magical lanterns.  My cousin found them.  I've seen them in movies, cartoons, but never quite understood how they worked.  And then to light them, and watch them float up like something magical was just the most wonderful thing in the world.  Take one off the bucket list!

Another Sweet Baby

Ethan
Originally uploaded by rogenadel.

It has been awhile. Life is a little more than busy, crazy, wild. Work is the same unending race. I wonder how many live this way with their job or how many people actually have a calm, slow, 100% enjoyable, relaxing day at work. Don't misunderstand. Work is enjoyable most of the time. The children are wonderful and watching them discover things is the most amazing thing in the world, especially when they are succeeding. But sometimes, there is too much to do and not enough time. Right now we are battling some type of virus, cough epidemic. We have so many children absent, including my own. Coughing, fever, feeling yucky. Hoping for a little bit more healthy.
We have also had the pleasure to welcome another baby to our extensive set of friends. Congratulations B & B on your beautiful baby boy! He is precious. At this wonderful time, I sit back and reflect on the days when I would pray to God that you would be blessed with one baby, at the least, and now God has given you two beautiful angels. It is the most amazing thing. I eagerly look forward to watching them grow, and you enjoying them.
My mother-in-law is still in the hospital. She began dialysis last week. A bit weary with this procedure. Not sure how her life will change now and what does it hold for us. When a loved one is sick, you realize how much you take for granted when they are healthy. Today, I would give anything to see her home and sitting up and talking to us, anything. I am really struggling with the idea that the doctors may not be able to give her medicine to make her better. I am praying.
I went to church Sunday and had a very enjoyable time. Every service I am amazed by the stories in the Bible. It is the most interesting book. There seem to be stories about everything, and I have read only a few. I am thankful for this new walk.
Yesterday, my mom's family got together and had our first batch of crawfish this season. They were pretty good. It was really kind of weird. We got together at my grandmother's house, which was also my great-grandmother's house, the only house I ever remember my great-grandmother living in. Since I had a memory, my cousin and I (AR) would play there together. Her family lived next door to my great grandmother and my great-grandmother was her grandmother. She was the baby grandchild and my great-grandmother's favorite. We would play all the time. She used to have a clothes line in the yard that we would do flips on, it is gone now. The yard used to be so big, it seemed. My cousin would do cart wheels and all kinds of "tricks". I couldn't even do a cartwheel. It is funny to remember now. And yesterday, seeing all of our family there, together, just seemed really weird to think this house had been there for so long, and we had created all of these family memories there, and we keep on creating, now with our own children. My daughter slept in my grandmother's bed most of the day. Even that was weird to lay in the room and look at all of the little knickknacks my grandmother has. The whole experience was a really good feeling.