Giant Baby Attacks Ginger Bread House

Reagan is so much fun. She is down for whatever. If you want to play with her Elefun Busy Ball Popper for hours, she is ready to play with you. Making these silly little videos is a blast. I have been thinking about this one since Susan, Reagan, and I built the house three weeks ago.  And how about Susan huh? I personally think her portrayal of Ginger the Gingerbread Woman stole the show. I found a woman who loves me for being me, married her, had a baby, and we’re having the best time of our lives! Enjoy the video!

 

Holiday Dinner with Friends

For years the holiday season would be on its way and I would tell myself, “this year I’m going to host a friends holiday dinner.” But the holidays would come and go filled with parties and shopping and grading finals and being lazy and I would miss it again. This year I finally had my chance. My close friends Aaron, Naomi, and their handsome baby boy were coming to town for Christmas. Aaron suggested we get together for a family night: husbands, wives, babies. I turned this suggestion into a 21 pound turkey and a ‘bring a side dish’ holiday dinner. In one house we had thirteen close friends and three babies 10 months old or younger. What a wonderful day. 

A few highlights were:

·         Sharing a dinner table with Susan, Reagan, Aaron, Naomi, Cameron, Brian, Sandra, Kaitlyn, Matt, Kat, Trevor, Melissa, Daren, Winona, and Brandon (Michelle you were missed).

·         8 month old Cameron Koles and 10 month old Kaitlyn Peel play, talk, and crawl all over each other.

·         3 month old Reagan almost acknowledged the other babies.

·         Kaitlyn giving Reagan a kiss. Causing Reagan to cry. Causing Kaitlyn to cry.

·         The biggest bird I had ever cooked came out wonderfully juicy.

·         All side dishes and desserts brought by friends were delicious including Brian’s stuffing that he bragged was his “Mother’s recipe” which I think was the brand of pre-made stuffing he bought.

·         The Farkas’ gravy so thick you had to cut it with a knife, but absolutely scrumptious.

·         Having so many friends together at one long table, talking, laughing, and saving lives . . .

Which brings me to the ULTIMATE HIGHLIGHT, Brian choking to death.

·         “Are you choking?” Trevor interrupted his own story to ask Brian, but Brian’s overall pleasant look on his face and speechlessness left Trevor confused. So Sandra, watching her husband’s lips turn blue jumped into action. “Are you choking? He’s choking!!!” She attempts to pound it out through his back, reaches around to start the Heimlich but the chair diminished all productivity. As half the table watched in wonder, confused that this large adult male couldn’t chew his food properly the other half still assumed he was joking around. Finally Daren jumps over two dinner guests and starts to pound on his back. Up pops the food and Brian (not kidding) catches the obstruction in mid air as it leaves his esophagus and mouth, and shouts “Got it!” As Brian regained consciousness Farkas topped off the event with a well timed “All right I get it, the gravy is thick!”

You know me, I love to host, I love my family, and I love my friends. I’m so thankful to enjoy a night like tonight. As I prepared my toast for the evening I decided to find a nice little quote about friendship to share. I will leave you with that quote, Happy Holidays.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
- Anais Nin

Thankful for Thanksgiving

This year Susan and I are so thankful to celebrate Reagan’s first thanksgiving. We are so thankful for our happy and healthy little baby girl. She amazes us each and every day. As excited as we are to charge into Reagan’s first holiday season, we must also embrace the sorrow that comes with first holiday’s without my Mom.

I can’t even express in words how sad I am to face the holiday season without my mom.  Out of a lifetime of being loving, Mom really shined over the holidays. From October through December she had kids and grandkids’ birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. All special days which revolve around Mom’s specialties, cooking and gifts.  Therefore I can’t help but feel sadness during this time, much like my siblings, their families, our extended families, close friends, those missing their pecan pie, and those who will not receive their little personalized gift in their Barton mailbox this year. Fortunately Mom left us so many reasons to be thankful.  

I am thankful for the memory of last thanksgiving. Mom hadn’t hosted a thankgiving in years. And even when she had it kind of dwindled into the smallest remainder of our family. But last year, Mom’s condo was filled wall to wall with love. At dinnertime, the table literally stretched wall to wall. Mom really put on something special last year. At one table she had her children, grandchildren, close friends and family. We actually had to move her living room furniture into the bedroom to fit the banquet table she bought just for that day. Mom worked way harder than she should have and would only accept our help if we gave her no other option. Mom, who hates crowds of people, was so happy to have crowded her condo with so much love. It was the perfect day. Even when Bailey came out of the master bedroom (a.k.a. pie storage) with a beard of pumpkin pie on his face, Mom was unphased.  She was probably just happy that poor Bailey was finally able to eat some people food. I’m so thankful that Mom decided to host last year. I’m so thankful so many of us were together. I’m so thankful for that wonderful Thanksgiving.

I’m just as thankful for the thanksgiving the year before. Mom came to my house and had thanksgiving dinner prepared for her by her baby and his wife mere months after their nuptials. When you’re the baby of the family, I think you’re always the baby. It doesn’t matter what you do, how old you get, or what you have accomplished. You’re the baby. Well two years ago Mom sat at our table, set with our wedding china, in our home, with a dinner prepared by her youngest and his bride and hopefully was able to take comfort in seeing her baby was grown up enough to host thanksgiving. Everything tasted wonderfully and was the perfect output of Susan and I working together.

I have 28 more thanksgiving stories (including a complete thanksgiving at a campsite) that I will spare you.  I will say that perhaps what I am most thankful for is the years of learning I had under Mom’s tutelage teaching me the ins and outs of making special days special. I promise to do my best Mom.

Susan, Reagan, Bailey, Micki, and I would like to wish you all a happy thanksgiving. We hope your day is filled with love, family, friends, and memories of special days you have all shared. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours. 

Stop and Smell the Roses

I met a man today who told me his story. I was walking the two blocks from Chapman to the first non-permit street parking, where I park M-F, and I stopped to ask a question about roses. On this route of mine there is this beautiful little yellow house with rose bushes everywhere and whatever colorful flower the season permits. Every blade of grass is a crisp green surrounded by a white picket fence. It looks like something out of  Thomas Kincade painting or some place that Brenda would want to live.

Anyway, I stopped to ask the elderly home owner a few questions about his roses. This is what I learned:

He doesn’t know about the roses. His wife takes care of them. He joined the marines after high school. On the way down to boot camp the train stopped in Orange and he had an hour to walk around before the train continued down the tracks to San Diego. He thought to himself: “I like this little town.” After his commitment to the Marine Corps was up, he headed home to Michigan to attend Wesley College (Wesley University at the time). When he graduated he was ready to start the adult chapter of his life, but where? How about that little town called Orange he had spent an hour 10 years before? He spent the rest of his life in Orange. He married a woman, had a daughter and they lived together for years raising their child. Eventually she “wanted to live a different life” (I did not follow up). So he was single, in his 50s, hosting an office Christmas party, when he saw a beautiful 30 something friend of his secretary. “I kissed her that night, by the file cabinets between the As and the Cs.” She pulled back, things got awkward.  “She must of thought, ‘who is this old guy shmooching me.”’ A week later his secretary asked why he hadn’t called her friend. They had been together for 35 years and together they raised her 3 sons. Now they have 11 grandchildren and 4 great grand children. The four great grand children call him “Great Papa.”

I learned much more, but I wont share every detail. I enjoyed my ten minutes with this 85 year old retired insurance salesmen. He stood in the middle of a lawn, rake in hand, leaves surrounding his feet, and a warm smile on his face. His name is Bob Junstalls.

Every now and again you get the opportunity to meet someone. You get the opportunity to learn about the life of a stranger. Just like most people, I miss most of these opportunities by playing with my smart phone, reading, or even just ignoring the opportunity so it doesn’t slow down my day.  I’m going to try to embrace these possibilities more often in the future. Before I walk by, go to my phone, or open my book, I’ll ask myself “What would Morrie do? How about Tad, John, or Ginny?” I bet they would stop, and ask about the roses. 

Reagan’s 80s Workout Video

Reagan’s Workout Video

Having a baby is fun. Reagan is simply down for whatever. She plays games, she enjoys puppet shows, she dances with daddy, she loves a good hike, she enjoys wearing socks on her hands and skirts on her head, funny photo shoots, and most recently she enjoys making silly home movies. Susan and I may have enjoyed this even more. The other day I was changing Reagan's diaper. As I re-dressed her I accidentally snapped the onezie and then put her pants on. I immediately saw my error but couldn't help but notice the similarities in her accidental outfit and an 80s workout video outfit. Tada! The idea for the workout video was born. We found the tightest onesie, snug black leggings, baggy socks, and of course a head band.

Please enjoy Reagan’s introduction to the wonderful world of youtube with Reagan’s 80s Workout Video.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a wonderful birthday this year thanks to great family and friends. My birthday, like many years, fell over multiple days. On Sunday, my brother and sister, sister-in-law, three nephews (one representing the brother and family who couldn't make it), and a niece drove out to spend the day with me. We started by spending all afternoon in the kitchen doing our best to duplicate Mom’s Chicken and Dumplings. Mom cooked everything “to taste.” Pots simmered for “awhile.” And all ingredients were quantified as “some.” With my mom’s recipe and instructions, it took Brenda, Josh, Andrew, and I hours to do what Mom did alone. We of course had plenty of help from Gracen and Sayler. Gracen can make great dumplings, Sayler can crack an egg (better use a separate bowl), and we were pretty impressed with what our Dust Buster could pick up. 

Yes we were a little low on chicken . . . . and dumplings, our broth wasn’t as thick, and apparently Brenda thought we had too many carrots; but that was one of the best times I have had in the kitchen. The meal was delicious, not Mom’s, but delicious. The real joy of the dinner was making it. The whole time I thought to myself, “I’m so happy to be with my family.” Ginny, Randy, and Christopher joined us for dinner and I pulled out the folding table and chairs and we all fit at the same table. It was perfect. 

The real tragedy was the cake I made myself. Oil, eggs, cake mix. How can you screw that up? I know, you use the wrong pan even though you have Mom’s perfect cake pan in the garage. Oops. Thanks for putting on a stern face and chomping through that yellow brick with chocolate frosting. 

The night was capped off with playful chatter in the living room and an outrageous, yet sweaty, round of bull-dogging in Reagan’s room. In case you’re wondering, bulldogging is when one toddler rides on a grown-up’s back, dives onto a bull (another grown-up) and tackles him to the ground. This also leads to toddler jousting, and then just wrestling. No one was injured. 

On my actual birthday, Susan started me off right. I came home from my morning class at about 10:30 and walked into my little family waiting for me as I opened the door. Wife and daughter were both dressed in cute outfits, I had flowers and presents on the counter, a fresh pot of coffee, and Reagan was “holding” a sign that read “Happy Birthday Daddy.” I felt like a million bucks. 

For my day, I asked for two things. 1) I wanted to go on a bike ride. My first one post-Reagan. 2) I wanted Susan to cook me a dinner I had never had before, with no opinion or suggestion or answer from me.

At 1:30 on a beautifully sunny October afternoon, I met up with my riding buddy Brandon and down through the Back Bay, up PCH, and down Main Street, Huntington Beach to Starbuck’s. Then we headed back. A great 30 mile bike ride, just what I needed. 

Later that evening, on my way home from class I pulled off into a parking lot and threw on a tie to formal things up a bit. When I came home Susan had dinner on the stove, a candle lit table setting, and a glass of Falkner Riesling (B’day gift from Ginny and Randy). It was just what I had hoped for. Unfortunately we also had a fussy baby. As I sat on the recliner talking with Susan as she fed Reagan and we worried about the carefully prepared pasta getting cold or the croutons in the Caesar salad getting soggy I couldn’t help but admire my beautiful little family. Sure we were supposed to eat at 8 and we didn’t get the baby to sleep and sit down until 9. But such is life. And we didn’t care. We were a family, together. We’re a couple with a newborn, you got to be flexible. 

When we finally did sit down the dinner was outstanding. Susan made a Caesar salad and linguini with ham and peas (I like peas, Susan doesn’t. Another little added bonus for my birthday.) For dessert, a light and fluffy yellow cake with chocolate frosting made in the correct pan. Afterward, we walked into the living room and we danced; another one of my favorite things. 

The other day I heard a DJ on the radio claiming no man older than 21 should give a darn about any birthday that doesn’t end in zero. I couldn’t disagree more. Honestly, I don’t care about turning 31. That doesn’t really mean anything significant. A birthday is just a nice excuse to go out of your way to show your love and to make someone feel special. I learned that from my mom. Mom always made birthdays special. We always had birthdays as an excuse to come together as a family. Now, as I just had my first birthday without Mom, my family picked it up a notch for me. My wife and sister even called/texted at the minute I was born since Mom couldn’t this year. Later this month we’re getting together again for Sayler’s birthday, then Chistopher's, Brenda’s in November, Josh’s in December, Susan’s in January . . . .

The Gifts Keep on Coming

In this picture you’ll see my daughter lying on a beautiful crocheted blanket. This gift is yet another emotional and loving present from Mom, Reagan’s Grandma Margaret. There was only a two-month window from when Mom learned of the upcoming addition to her list of grandchildren and when she entered the hospital. During that time Mom started on a baby blanket for grandchild number six. Unfortunately, Mom would never meet Reagan or finish this blanket . . . on her own.

Mom had a nice little start to the blanket and even had all the yarn delivered to her hospital bed. Nevertheless, the pain, the medication, and the overall fight against cancer kept her from continuing her work. It’s okay Mom, we took it from there.

If you look at the picture, the yellow square in the middle of the blanket was made by my mother’s loving hands. That would be as far as she could get. Elaine, a friend of Susan’s mom would help us complete this gift. The inner green border works to frame Mom’s original work so we’ll always know what she created. The yellow yarn on the outside is from the same roll my mom picked out for her baby’s first baby.  I’m sure this blanket will mean as much to Reagan as it does to me. Thanks Mom, I love you.

I would like to give a special thanks to Elaine. You helped complete a gift I (we) will cherish forever. Thank you.

One Month Old! (9/30/2011)

Can you believe it? Our little baby is already a month old. She’ll be heading off to college before we know it. Right after Susan and I found out we were going to be parents, my emotions were on high alert. I walked into a Costco and as always was immediately sprung on by giant TVs. This time Costco had Toy Story 3 on loop. I stopped to watch the opening scene where Andy was playing so happily with his toys, only to find out that this was an old home video and Andy was leaving for college! I quickly dried my eyes and commenced shopping as I pondered the sad day in which my embryo would someday leave home.  And just like so many have warned, “they grow up so fast.” I know I know, it’s only been a month, get over it right? Well you just don’t know how much she has grown!

She has already grown way past the meconium poop stage. After day two, I’d never get to scrub my little tar-butt baby again. Now she has moved on past the mustard seed phase onto green poo. It is happening SO fast! Reagan kind of moved her fist to her mouth on purpose today, she can sometimes follow a face, toy, or voice. She is almost out of her newborn diapers, she drank from a bottle, she sleeps in her own room, she plays kicky feet all day, and it's all spiraling out of control. 

Regardless of how much we love the Reagan of that day, we seem to be even more impressed and in love with Reagan the next day. She is perfect and makes each day so much more amazing.

Reagan's Room

One of the best parts of the pregnancy was turning our guest room and office into the baby’s room.  Over several months and with help from friends and family, we transformed our extra bedroom into the perfect home for baby. As my mom would have said “all the baby needs is a crib,” but we wanted to build it this way anyway. In preparation for Reagan’s arrival we painted, put in new carpet, curtains, base boards, and crown molding, Of course we needed new furniture and for added fun we decorated the room with a lovely “Dance” theme.

What's in a Name: Reagan Harper Snodgrass

Susan and I spent plenty of time over the last 9 months discussing possible names. When it came down to it, naming her Reagan was the obvious choice.

Reagan: We have a nice little story behind this name. This story goes back years and years so the order and details may be less than 100% accurate but the meaning remains the same.

Many moons ago Susan’s parents, Ginny and Randy, went on a big hike in the Mt. Katahdin in the state of Maine.  After reaching the summit, Ginny and Randy started heading back down the mountain. Unfortunately by this time Ginny’s foot was in trouble. She had such a foot injury she couldn’t walk down the mountain any further. As they sat on the side of the trail trying to figure out what to do, a young man from Outward Bound came walking by and stopped to check on the wounded hikers.

To help, this outdoorsman decided to run down the mountain to see how far it was. By the time he was back to the Rands, he was covered in sweat but ready to help. Ginny was asked to hop on his back piggyback style and down the mountain they went. Ginny and Randy made it comfortably back to their car thanks to this passerby.

His name was Reagan and the name stayed in Ginny’s mind for years. Early in the dating life of Susan and I, Ginny and Randy shared this story in casual conversation. Susan and I remembered it well.  Isn’t it a nice little story?

We named our daughter Reagan not so much after this one nice fellow, but to remind our little girl to be kind to others.

Harper: We chose this as our daughter’s middle name because we liked the way it sounds. Cool huh?

Snodgrass: She’s just lucky. 

Labor and Delivery

Susan is awesome. Her strength, perseverance, and motherhood skills were all on full display for the 12 hours between first contraction and when her daughter was placed in her arms. Here is her story of amazingness.

As prepared as I was to miss class the first two weeks of school, there was one window of 2 ½ hours that would send me into a scramble trying to find a sub. Susan went into labor an hour in to this window. Hey who needs more for a 3 hour class than a sign-in sheet and a stack of syllabi with a sign saying “take one.” I had to head home!

Good thing I did. Contractions were getting stronger and closer at a pretty fast pace. By 7:30 they were consistently 5 minutes apart and Susan was unable to speak through them. As directed this was the time to call the hospital. To our disappointment the doctor told us to hang out until the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart.  Here we go for more fun at home. Two hours later the contractions were about 3:15 apart and we were convinced that was ENOUGH. Susan was dealing with the contractions like a champ, but as many first mom’s can attest “I didn’t know it would hurt this bad. I didn’t know it would be like this.”

This was a tough time, but Susan worked through it while I did everything I could to relieve pain when possible, stay calm for her, remind her of different techniques we learned, and stuck to my promise of NO JOKES! Although it wasn’t appreciated until later, a highlight of this time occurred while Susan was on her knees, grasping the couch, shouting in pain, and Bailey brought her a toy for a game of fetch. What can he say, she was on the floor which means play time!

After the longest 11 mile drive of my life at about 9:30PM Susan was checked over and to her dismay only 2 centimeters (we both thought she was at 9-10 by now).  The nurse gave us two options: 1) go home, take a sleeping pill and come back tomorrow. 2) Walk the halls of the labor ward for an hour and get rechecked. If we made it to 3 centimeters (she was cutting us a break) we would be admitted. Otherwise, home we go! Susan decided on the latter and our walk began. This sucked.

Unlike sitcoms would like us to believe Susan never said “I hate you, you did this to me.” She never used profanity (directed at me anyway), she never demanded my exit of the premises. She did however declare that Reagan would be an only child. Her attitude has since changed.

During the hall walk, once again Susan was amazing. It was definitely the hardest part for her but she rocked it. She was hurting, she was scared, she was looking for ways to make it stop, but she took contraction after contraction in impressive style. As I helplessly and painfully watched my wife suffer, I also felt my love for her grow exponentially. She was doing all this for us. She dealt with each and every contraction and the nine months of discomfort for our family. I knew I would be forever grateful.

Hour up = 4 centimeters. Whew. Admitted by midnight, epidural shortly after, smiles followed immediately. We were instructed that this would be our only time to rest. Although we attempted, we never got that chance. After about 90 minutes the epidural started to wear off on one side. The labor process progressed faster than expected. And most distracting, the baby’s heart rate was dropping at every contraction. The doctor was “concerned.”

Like I said, we were lucky at the speed of Susan’s progression because Reagan wanted out of there and was willing to stop her heart in order to get her way. To add to the difficulty, baby was coming out “sunny side up” rather than face down. No problem for my wife though, she was too amazing. Almost to the surprise of Susan and I, she was suddenly pushing. This is where Susan really shined. Like a machine she pushed hard when instructed and rested with extreme focus and determination when allowed. She was so strong I didn’t think she was in any pain or discomfort. Just business. In less than 15 minutes of pushing with a tiny bit of help from a vacuum, Reagan was born.

Susan and I exploded with excitement. Reagan Harper Snodgrass entered the world healthy, happy, and alert. We have enjoyed every moment since. 

Full Term

Congratulations to Susan, and to a lesser portion, ME!!! Baby is full term. As of a week ago Susan and baby are 37 weeks (38 now). This means if labor were to get started, we would just go with it. As of our latest perfect doctor’s appointment we have no reason to feel rushed.

I thought I would post some hospital information in case you wanted to visit while we’re in the hospital. Of course we can’t promise to be the best hosts we may have plenty of down time to visit. We should be there for a couple of days if you want to stop by. Many of you will receive text message updates about the progress and room numbers.

Here is our hospital address:

Saddleback Memorial Women’s Hospital.

24451 Health Center Drive
Laguna Hills, CA 92653.

There are three entrances to the hospital, the furthest from the parking lot is the women’s hospital.

In case you have to wait, near the hospital you’ll find the Laguna Hills Mall, In and Out, BJ’s Pizza, Ruby’s Diner, King’s Crabs, Starbuck’s and many other fine establishments if you need to wait out the clock.

If swinging by the hospital doesn’t work for you, don’t worry you’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet Potato Snodgrass when she comes home (as long as you bring us dinner). 

Happy Two Year Anniversary!

On Monday July 25^th, Susan and I celebrated another wonderful anniversary. This year wasn’t a glamorous trip or getaway. It was a simple and great day for our little family.  I’m happy to share a few of the details. I started my day at 6:15am, sitting in front of my garage, sipping coffee, and waiting on my in-laws to show up with the miter saw they rented from Home Depot. After their arrival, Susan, her parents, and I spent the next several hours installing baseboards, touching up paint, and preparing for baby.

At 12:15 I had run out of time with only a few boards to go. I went off to work, Susan went off to visit all of her friend’s newborns, the Rands went to feed old people, and the house rested. When Susan and I made it back home the Rands were already back to work. I helped for a moment or two but then I had to leave. Susan and I had a very important appointment. The base boards were just about done anyway, thanks Randy and Ginny.

At 5:30 Susan and enjoyed another ultrasound of our little girl. She is big! Well big in comparison to the little poppy seed we saw so many months ago. We watched Baby Seven Snodgrass Jr. the IV open and close her hand in front of her face. Then she tried to eat it. I was so excited watching I practically climbed into the monitor.  We later stopped by Susan’s parents to show them the DVD, again I nearly climbed into the TV.

At 7:00 my bride and I sat down for a nice dinner at Sol overlooking Newport harbor. We talked about the baby, our life together, how nice it would be to have a bottle of wine, and then headed back to our unfinished home. Regardless of the work in need all around us, Susan and I still found time for romance. On our first anniversary we created a Love Letter Wine Box. In this box we have a bottle of wine (we substituted sparkling cider this year), the champagne flutes my mother bought us for our wedding, and two sealed loved letters we wrote each other last year. We drank our fake champagne, read our letters, and exchanged gifts. (We were supposed to add new letters but we gave ourselves a week extension.) Susan had framed a couple of my favorite pictures of Mom and I to hang in our living room and I gave Susan a starter set of 5 different and simple post baby date nights (like a bag of microwave popcorn with a dollar taped to it for a Red Box night when baby is sleeping).   

But wait, there’s more. Susan and I finished our anniversary by staying up past midnight, touching up paint and listening to Frank Sinatra radio on Pandora. We’re so darn cute!

How am I doing?

This is a very popular question I hear these days. “So . . . How are you doing?” I usually answer with “I’m doing.” It is really the most accurate answer I can give without bending your ear for an hour or bringing me to tears in the middle of my work day or at the grocery store or wherever else I am when the question is asked. My mom died a month ago yesterday, so I figured I would give you an update, a further explanation than “I’m doing.” 

Losing my mom has been and will continue to be very difficult for myself and my family. Every day all day a part of me is dedicated to grieving. Every day I do take a moment or several to stop and just think about Mom, her passing, my future without her, and our time together. Sometimes in the middle of reading to Susan’s belly or looking at my roses I am slapped with a rush of emotion. I often get overwhelmed when I think of the birth of my child and not having my Mom in the waiting room. Or when I think of Christmas time without her 100% dedication to providing us with joy. But, this is grief. I lost my mom and I’m grieving. To be honest, I’m pretty good at it. But, I’m doing. 

My entire day and life is not stricken with grief. I enjoy my days, my work, my time with my family, and my time preparing for the baby. I laugh, I joke, and I enjoy life. This portion of the process is like learning to live in this current chapter of my life; a life where Mom is an emotional presence and not a physical one. 

The steps through this process are made much easier by the family I’m walking with. My siblings, wife, and other family have been amazing. I think we’re all doing a great job supporting each other through this time. What can I say, we’re my mother’s children.

I guess I have added this blog to simply add to the explanation of “I’m doing.” I wanted to let everyone know that if I seem sad, that’s okay; it’s just part of the process. If I seem happy, that is okay too. I’m not ignoring my grief or in any kind of denial and I’m sure as heck not “over it.” It is part of life and my mother’s love will help us all through it.

“The fact is, there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn’t the family. If you don’t have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family, you don’t have much at all. Love is so supremely important.” – Morrie Schwartz, Tuesdays with Morrie.