We had a wonderful weekend of celebrating Brittany's 25th birthday! She got home on Friday evening and we had cake (red velvet with cream cheese frosting) and she opened her gifts. She was most excited about her new vacuum cleaner. Let me just say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. We enjoyed a nice dinner out at P.F. Chang's on Saturday night and came home and watched 'Sully' with Tom Hanks. I still can't believe my oldest girl is 25! She has grown into such a beautiful young woman, inside and out. She has a heart for others and is very driven. It's remarkable to see how we've come to a point in our relationship where we're not only mother and daughter, but the very best of friends. I'm so lucky to be part of her life...
I took several photos I had planned to share, but my memory card is now saying that it can't be read. Naturally, Chris is gone to Mexico for the week on business, so I'll have to wait until he returns to have him figure it out. I really hope I haven't managed to erase some 700+ photos that were on my memory card. That would not make me a happy camper.
One additional thing we did before Brittany headed back on Sunday evening was the mold of our hands. It's from the Luna Bean kit Chris gave me for Christmas. The whole process took around four hours, but so worth it. We have to seal it before I display it on a table. Abby's hand is at the top, Brittany's is at the bottom-right, which leaves my wrinkly hand at the bottom-left. Isn't it just the neatest thing? It's something that I will forever treasure. It goes to show how a mother is always connected to her children. Love continues on and on...
There was a tragic thing that happened last week. We learned about it on Friday night. The son of one of our neighbors down the street shot himself in the head on Wednesday and he was taken off life support on Friday. He attempted to commit suicide. Abby went to high school with him; they rode the same bus. He used to talk to her about how he and his parents didn't get along. She said he used to make reference in high school about wanting to take his life. I guess no one took him seriously. I can't even imagine the torment his parents are going through right now wondering if there was something they could have done or even something they shouldn't have done to prevent this from happening. Please keep the family in your prayers. The road ahead is going to be a long, painful one. Incidents like this make you realize that you never know when someone might be hurting deep inside. Offer a smile, an understanding word, a compassionate ear to whomever you meet...it could be the only lifeline they receive.
