What we did last winter

First the white, then the blue

And we are back. Thank you for your patience.

This first fourth third (I began writing this post at least three weeks ago) of Twenty Twenty-Six has been overwhelming for me. I'm just going to state that up front so it's out of the way.

I'm sure there have been overwhelming aspects of it for you too, but I can only write what I know.

precipitation piling up around the pool

Henry went home to be with the Lord in January and left a void that one is not fully aware will be there, until it is there. I miss him a great deal and I wish I'd been a better what-passes-for-a-secondhand daughter, while he was here with us.

No sooner did that painful blow land, and settle, than Andrew was deployed suddenly and without warning, for an indeterminate amount of time, in early February.

(Andrew has been deployed to the Middle East several times in his career as a Boom Operator and Pilot with the Tennessee Air National Guard's 151st Air Refueling Squadron, but the deployments were always planned months in advance and had definite start and end dates, giving the unit members ample time to get their ducks in a row, no small part of which is getting mentally prepared for the ordeal.)

Pretty patterns ... and yes that is a skeleton sitting on my swing

Brittany is working hard to complete nursing school and she needed help with the children, so I spent the last half of February in Knoxville.

It was special to be with Ember and Guy doing the everyday things, and I would not trade those weeks for anything. But, the brutal truth is that it's difficult being out of one's own element for that length of time.

Shortly after I returned, it was my birthday and TG and I took a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia.

My rain chain has seen better use as a snow chain

We had a great time. The weather was beautiful and we toured the University of Virginia campus, most notable architecturally for Thomas Jefferson's stunning rotunda.

We did some graving. I will share pictures in my next post and no, it will not be three months from now.

Once I was back home, it was Erica's turn to go to Knoxville and help out with the children for a week.

We waited it out

As she left town on a Monday, she brought Elliot a/k/a Skippy to me, and took Rhett with her. Rhett adores his cousin Ember and was keen to spend quality time with her.

So there I was full time with a two-year-old, but he's a honey of a two-year-old, so we did fine. Chad came and got him on the Friday afternoon, which worked out great because I had come down with a cold.

When Erica returned the next day, Saturday, she brought Ember and Guy with her since the next week coincided with Ember's spring break from school.

it was grate while it lasted

Guy stayed with me and Ember went to Erica's and then eventually to Audrey's house, to hang with Dagny.

So I had a different honey of a two-year-old boy for another week. 

Brittany came and got Ember and Guy over the weekend and spent one night with us, and we had a spaghetti supper and a nice visit. Then they were gone and the house was quiet.

Rizzo was like whaaaaaaat .... ???

I still miss having Guy around; I don't see enough of those Tennessee grands. He's precious and sweet and has only a few moments where he acts as though he single-handedly invented the concept of the Terrible Twos and is solely responsible for its ongoing reputation of striking abject terror into the hearts of adult caregivers.

Those errant blips notwithstanding, I call him My Sugar and we have a game where I inquire out loud, over and over, Where's My Sugar? and he hides underneath his little soft black blanket that goes wherever he goes, giggling maniacally like it's his job.

And we laugh and cut up and then hug and kiss and play Where's My Sugar? some more.

Now where's that hot chocolate I asked for

All week he ate well and slept well -- including a two-hour nap every single day -- so that in itself is remarkable.

TG was on hand to take him to the park daily, giving me a break to regroup.

One beautiful morning I took Guy for a walk and he walked two whole miles with no complaint. Rizzo ambled along beside us.

How it looked out front during the storm

But as anyone who has done it knows, when you do little kids, all you do is little kids. There's not much time for much else.

So now you're more or less in the know but I've gotten ahead of myself so let me tell you how our winter went.

We did have snow. Well, we had ice one week and snow the next week.

Andrew took this the next day. Click to embiggen.

We missed two weeks in a row of Sunday church, because it was canceled outright, which is unprecedented and unheard of and, I am confident in saying, will never happen again in my lifetime.

It was bizarre. As I said, the first week turned out to be more cold and icy than snowy, but the snow came the following week and kept us cozy indoors for the second weekend.

We got maybe four inches where I live but for us, four inches is a big deal. And it's a big deal too that our power never flagged or failed, which is always a concern at such times.

We buried a bird that hit the picture window and died

Andrew was still stateside at that point and the day after the snowfall, he flew over Columbia in the corporate jet he pilots for a living, and took a picture of Lake Murray, which lies two miles from our front door.

I have drawn a yellow line ending in a dot where our house is, on that photo. No, the pirate cannot see the water from her house but she knows it's there.

And now he is in the Middle East for going on a third month, pilot of a KC-135 Stratotanker flying nearly nightly missions in a war zone.

One of the portraits of Allissa that we'll display at her grad parties

He lost three buddies in the accident which took place in March, and in some ways is still reeling from that tragedy, which hit the whole squadron hard.

He has had a birthday while there, and because of the truly wonderful efforts of the members of his unit who were back at home, we were able to get a large care package to him. He got it a little late, but now he rides each night with snacks from home, and he is grateful.

There is no indication of when he might be coming back to his family. I ask for your prayers for him and all those brave men and women who are doing the work and putting their lives on the line during these tumultuous and terrifying times.

TG and I brought a special balloon to Lissy's 18th birthday party

Meanwhile, our Stephanie has for many months been fighting a battle on her home turf, regarding Melanie's issues. 

Our Melly has not lived at home for nearly three months now, staying instead in a respite care facility where she is helped and monitored by skilled caregivers twenty-four hours a day.

Doctors have worked hard to calibrate Melanie's medications in an effort to get her back from the extreme behaviors she began exhibiting last fall, which led to so much heartache for herself and her family.

Most of us were on hand to see Allissa turn eighteen

I don't know what we would have done without those who dedicate their lives to serving this challenging demographic, because although a perfect solution has not yet been found, Stephanie and Joel feel that they are closer to getting her back home than they have been for many long weeks.

For a significant period of time beginning in late fall and early winter, after suffering a health crisis, Melly was violent and uncontrollable, and it was extremely traumatic for everyone involved.

But there's a glimmer of light now, and we believe that the worst is over. Please pray for Melanie and for all of those who love and help her.

Me and the birthday girl

Allissa turned eighteen last week and we had a party, and she is graduating from high school in a few weeks and we will have more parties. I'll share the details and lots of pictures as the celebrations take place.

Audrey took Erica to Europe for her (Erica's) fortieth birthday, which we'll celebrate as a family over Memorial Day weekend. They've been in London for several days and are moving on to Paris tomorrow for a few days there before coming home early next week.

Dagny has been in North Carolina with her Aunt Stephanie while her mother and Aunt Erica are abroad, and is enjoying her time there.

The girls at Buckingham Palace this week

I want to say thank you to the ones of you who have reached out to me through cards and emails and texts and phone calls. It would be impossible to convey adequately in words alone, how much your concern means to me.

We do the work of our Creator when we support one another in word, deed, and prayer ... and God willing, we will continue faithfully in that sacred endeavor until the day break, and the shadows flee away!

And that is all for now.

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Happy Weekend