11/19/2012

 Thank you, everyone, for your condolences, they’ve been very comforting and appreciated.  

It was the second hardest funeral I’ve ever had to attend.  Hubby couldn’t go.  He said it would be too much for him both physically and emotionally.  Liz went with me instead.  It was a good choice.  She supported me when I needed it and helped me keep my dignity by not allowing me to fall when my legs turned to jelly and decided they didn’t want to work.  

When Paul was young, he was such a tiny little thing.  Mom and I couldn’t resist calling him our little peanut.  It became a life-long nickname, just within my immediate family, that we never let him grow out of.  At his wedding reception, I reminded him of that when I shouted out, "Way to go Peanut!!"  Those who understood the term as one of endearment, laughed heartily.  Everyone else was just a little confused.  To his friends, he was known as Rob; To his family he was known as Paul.  To us, he will always be Peanut.  

As Mama, Daddy, Liz and I passed the casket to say our final farewell, our last loving gesture was to each place a peanut within the casket, next to him. 

"Goodbye, Peanut.  We love you."

It’s been a very hard couple of weeks but things….and I….are slowly getting back to normal.  

I’ve taken up crocheting again.  Right now I’m working on a twin size afghan for Wesley’s bed.  Of course it’s in his favorite colors: red, blue, yellow and black.  I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW EXPENSIVE YARN IS NOW!!  Can you tell it’s been a while since I’ve done any crocheting?  If ANY of you want to donate some pretty yarns, let me know, I’ll send you my address.  🙂  

I’ve also made several hats.  My youngest daughter, Alley, is really into beanies and berets these days.  She asked for some for Christmas but they cost like $15. each!  I think she’ll like the ones I made.  She loves the variegated colors, so I made a beanie with purples, greens and beiges in it.  

I’ll take some pictures later to show you.  Lately, crocheting makes me happy.  LOL!!

* I had an IEP meeting with Wesley’s teachers and the IEP coordinator last Friday.  They had Westly retested and evaluated by their own Psychiatrists and behavior specialists and came to the conclusion that he doesn’t suffer from ADHD, but that he has PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – not otherwise specified), which is just another way of saying he’s a high functioning Autistic that doesn’t fall into any specific category.  I can’t say that I’m thrilled to hear it, but it vindicates what I’ve been saying for three years – so it comes as no surprise.  Some things a Mom just knows.  

Hubby and I privately celebrated another "first" for Wesley.  After having meticulously spent an hour building a fort out of our dining room table, he crawled into it and READ A BOOK!!!!  The WHOLE book!  The boy was quiet, calm and content for an entire TWO hours!!  We are so proud.  Afterwards he said to me, "I guess reading is kinda fun sometimes."  I so LOVE my boy! 

* My Cathy has a new boyfriend.  He seems like a really good kid – so far.  He’s a strong Christian, he respects our values, he’s going to college, he LOVES to cook, he treats Cathy like gold and he has it in his head that he’s some day going to marry her.  When I told him it was going to be a long four year wait before Hubby and I would even consider giving consent, he said, "That’s good, it will be plenty of time for me to finish college and land a good job and make her fall madly in love with me."  

I had a nice Motherly talk with him.  I basically told him he’s dead meat if he ever touches her.  When she hugged him in front of me, I thought the poor guy was going to puke on his shoes.  Ha-ha!  Good.  He knows I meant it.  He’s three years older than her and claims to still be…virtuous, so we’ll see.  Cathy is a much stronger person now than she was a year ago and she’s not giving this boy more than an inch.  She’s even refusing to say "I love you" back to him – which makes him nuts.  She told me she refuses to say something so important to someone that she doesn’t know very well and whom she isn’t absolutely sure about.  She’s being very cautious.  I think she’s also enjoying watching him squirm.   It is nice to see Cathy happy again.  

* Liz is finally enrolled in the local College.  She’ll be starting classes this Spring.  She’s both nervous and excited.  Poor girl still hasn’t been able to find a job, which sucks, but she’s thinking of becoming a hair dresser as a means for income until she finishes college. She’s actually pretty good at cutting hair – for an amateur.   She’s cut her brother’s hair several times and even Cathy has trusted her with the scissors.  Her long term goal is to finish college in Cincinnati where she can learn foreign languages (Korean and Japanese) and then teach English in Korea for a year or two.  Her reason is simply, "..because it’s an experience and opportunity she’d be a fool to pass up."  Never mind that it pays VERY well and it’s been a life-long dream of hers to visit an Asian country.  

She’ll be double majoring, the first major being her music, of course.  

* Alley continues to do well in school, has been practicing her viola and is looking forward to her Christmas orchestra concert.   I wish I had more to say about her but she’s just at that stage right now where she likes to keep to herself and just read, read and read some more.

* Hubby is doing fairly well.  He’s still working every darn day and using the weekends to rest.  He had his prosthetic leg adjusted last Monday because it kept wanting to buckle at the knee when he walked.  Now he seems to be able to get around a little better without the constant fear of falling.  He sees his Neurologist in two weeks.  

That’s about it, for now.  All of my American friends, have a Happy Thanksgiving, not for the same reasons that our nation would like to celebrate it for, but for the opportunity to remind us of the blessings in our life.   

To all of you:  Be well, love deeply, pray humbly and never give up.  

Until next time…