What I read at Dad & Katie's Anniversary Celebration:

Ecclesiastes 3:  To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven.  A time to be born, and a time to die.  A time to cry and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. 
Pretty good from someone that Home Churches.....

May 29, 1982...Michelle lost her Dad..Katie lost her husband..It was their time to mourn.

June 27, 1985...My sisters and I lost our mother..My Dad lost his wife..It was our time to mourn.

As my family watched our Father struggle through his new life without my Mom, we prayed daily that God would bring someone in his life that could cook for us....I mean, him...and take care of him...

Around May 1986, my sisters and I played on our church softball team.  Our coach and dear friend, Sue Wright saw we needed a good home cooked meal and decided she needed to take action...so, she introduced Katie to my father.

April 25, 1987..our time to dance came...My father married Katie.  Although Katie didn't bargain for having the Brady Bunch move in, she handled it with grace and dignity.

The year 1987...gas prices were .89c a gallon, Fox network made its prime time debut, Prozac made it debut in the U.S., Howard had hair, and our precious Kyle Stephen and Sarah Faye were born with MANY more to come.  And I had red, blond, black, and purple hair...not all at once...yeah, maybe all at once...

Ecclesiastes 3 goes on to say...A time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up.  A time to weep a time to laugh.  In these past 25 years, our family have walked through just about all of the verse...We have experienced weddings, deaths, sickness, health issues, sadness, joy, childbirth, graduations, ballgames, laughter, and tolerance.  We learned how to join these two families into one.  Great times were had on the back porch eating and just laughing.  Now, to address the "time to kill" portion of Ecclesiastes....just play a board game with Katie...she goes in quick and silent and you never know what hit you..

Thank you Dad for being the best Dad a girl could ever ask for.  I would have said this even if I weren't your favorite...

Katie, thank you for loving my dad and taking care of him for the past 25 years.  I know it wasn't easy going from 1 child to 5.  Thank you for all the great advice and just listening to me when I talk.  Thank you mostly for being a GRANDMother to my boys and investing in their lives.

And last but not least, I want to thank you both for your faithful walk.  You are truly an example of Proverbs 3:5....Even though your plan was not the same as God's, you kept your trust in HIM...and that is why we are all gathered here to celebrate you two...

THIS IS YOUR TIME TO DANCE AND LAUGH...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO YOU BOTH AND I LOVE YOU......

Chapter Closing

I am the world's worst at planning something far in advanced and then wanting to back out when the time comes to actually do it...Case in point is traveling....I HATE to leave home....I LOVE seeing my sister and her family, but it's the boarding the dogs, driving in the car, flying in a plane, working through the unknown.  I guess I'm just a "homebody"....

For two years now, I've watched my son go from this happy go lucky person to a very unhappy person.  Due mostly to his environment.  Slowly things have been chipping away at his comedial demeanor....I have said to him daily, "this does NOT define you..."  Only, I was wrong.  I believe if you stay in an unhealthy situation for too long, it becomes you...thus defining you. 

He requested to remove himself from the school he has known since 6th grade.  The only other school he attended was elementary and that was the same one from K-5th.  Our family doesn't handle change very well.  For him to want to make this change, something must really be wrong.  So, we allowed him to "shadow" another school.  He loved it. He feels as though this school is a better "fit" for him.  So, now we are in the process of closing this chapter and turning the page.  Oh if it were just that simple.  It comes with a lot of sadness.  I really grew to love a lot of the parents and students there.  But, on the flip side of that, I've grown to really harbor some hatred towards those that repeatedly "beat" (figuratively) down my son.  So, much to the point I too was unhappy.  One thing I am sure of, is when you are in an unhealthy situation, you MUST remove yourself from it or it will eat at you until there is nothing left.

My two boys will not be together at school.  That could be both a good thing and a bad.  As of late, it is a bad thing.  If ever I needed God to come to me, sit with me, and tell me I AM doing the right thing, it is now.  My heart is heavy, my eyes are full, and my attitude is bad.  I am in desperate need of a change.  The "what ifs" are surfacing everywhere....what if he gets over there and it's worse....Unfortunately, I am the queen of "what ifs".......

So, the school year is closing.  All that is left is finals...Then we walk out the door of a beautiful campus, leaving behind some wonderful teachers and staff, great friends, awesome opportunities, and some good memories.  Letting go of the hurt and resentment of those that hurt my son, and letting God heal me and my son. Finally allowing God to "define" who my son is, not the situation......