Peas In A Pod?? Not Exactly. . .

I wish I could say that I was just like Gloria when I was her age. 

But I can't. 

 In fact, you might even say we would have been complete opposites if we had been in school together instead of being mother and daughter. 

 I would never have considered coloring my hair turquoise the night before the first day of school. 

Especially if I were a first time attender at a huge, new school, filled with bazillions of new people. 

I would have been too busy feeling sick to my stomach, worrying about how in the world I would fit in. 

But I would have really admired the girl who had the guts to do it. 

And I"ll bet we would have been friends. . .

 

Happy birthday, Zach!

It's the strangest thing.  I now have a kid who is 20.  I used to be 20 and it doesn't seem like it was that long ago. 

There are not enough sappy sentiments in the world to say how I really feel about this grown-up kid but I'll try. . . (not in any particular order!). . .

This kid is smart and wise.
He is kind and empathetic.
He is responsible and reliable.
He is a fun big brother and a caring son.
He loves his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins dearly.
He wrestles with thoughts and ideas with an open mind yet with grounded values.
He is willing to change his mind if the situation calls for it.
He loves God.
He tries to be like Jesus. (He's even been told he looks like Him. . . )
He reads his Bible like the Best Seller that it is.
He will make someone an incredible husband someday.
He loves to learn.
He loves his mom.  :)
He still plays with his sister.
He impresses his father.
He is handsome.
He makes me laugh.  Often.

There is so much more I could say but I mostly want to say that I have loved him from the moment I found out about him.  I'm so very thankful that I get to be his mom . . .

Moving Forward. . .

So. . . I have a lot to say but no idea how to say it.  Obviously our lives were turned upside down last month and, no matter how you look at it, nothing will ever be the same.  So I guess the question is, how do I process my own thoughts/feelings about this in a "public forum" without causing pain and/or more grief to others who were far more affected by this than myself??  And maybe the answer is, "I don't".  My blog tends towards the "light and fluffy" but I can't find light or fluffy at the moment.  I still feel shock and outrage when I think about it.  And I think about it often. 

We had our first family birthday party yesterday without Matt.  In the dashboard section of my blog, I have photos from the last family party we had just waiting for me to hit the publish button.  It was Max's 2nd birthday party and everything was normal.  I haven't found words to use to post those pictures yet so they might sit there indefinitely. 

But. . . we still have good memories to make and sweet children to hold onto so I'm posting the pictures from yesterday's party.  We had FIVE birthdays to celebrate:  Jeanie, Marreen, Kelsey, Zach and Cody.  I'm all out of words these days, so the pictures will have to speak for themselves. . .