Longings...

Since some of you may not know, I have a brother who died 2 weeks after his 18th birthday. He had cancer and went through many things a teenage boy should never have to deal with. I love him dearly.


So...the 5th anniversary of his death is on Sunday and it hit me like a brick this morning. You know when you've lost someone close important dates tend to make you cry a lot? Well, in our family, it's not usually the day that's so bad, but the day before is the worst. I realize I'm a few days early, but knowing me, it probably won't cross my mind on Sunday, so I'll cry today instead. I also realized that my parents are driving part of the way to New Orleans for a cruise on Sunday and I thought it was rather fitting. I don't know if they planned it that way or not, but I'm glad they are finally going on a cruise. Hopefully this isn't morbid, but I've seen 2 people die in my life. It's not a fun thing to be around, and I think the hospice/ICU nurses are just amazing people. They have to be able to deal with so much in order to help their patients and the respective families when they are dying. We had a wonderful nurse who completely reeked of smoke and David told her she should leave because he couldn't handle her smell. After that, she tried very hard to quit smoking, but I've never heard if she was successful. I hope she was for many reasons.




On a less morbid note, Jeff and I went to Shreveport and managed to not come home broke! We didn't even gamble. We did go to the casino, but it was so smoke-filled that we didn't stay very long. Our hotel was pretty nice, despite a lingering smell of smoke. I think I've decided that when you stay in a casino hotel, that the rooms will invariably be smoking rooms. We probably should have at least asked if they had any no smoking rooms. Well, in any case, we stayed on the 20th floor, shopped a little, saw a movie, and just hung out. We think Rachel enjoyed herself with Nana and Papa too.

Partial view from the room...




If for some reason you've read the blog and see me on Sunday, I would please ask that you not mention David, because I do have to teach Sunday School. I'd rather not have to answer questions about why I'm crying from several 6 year olds. I appreciate your candor in this matter.