Heavy thoughts

I love this week of the year. It's a short week and it's all about family and food, which are two of my favorite things. And since the kids are older and living away from home, I especially love this time of year because it means Wayne and Sally will be home. As I mentioned in my last post, Sally got home last Thursday. Totally loving having her home. Wayne's plans were to head home yesterday afternoon (it's about a 5 hour drive). Wayne was in the area by dinnertime but had a meeting in the city and met some friends for dinner. He said he was probably just going to stay downtown overnight so we went to bed after DWTS (and boy, Donny really stepped up last night, didn't he?). At 11:30, the doorbell woke us up and it was Wayne! I can't even tell you how it felt to see his face in the window. Oh my goodness. And to wake up this morning, knowing that all 4 of us were under one roof... what a great feeling. And it made me think of my sister Jenny and how much she must miss Dane's face, his hug, his voice, his presence. I know, you probably weren't thinking I was going to go there, but I never forget her loss, our loss. And as long as we are going down the grieving path, let's just go ahead and talk about how much I (we, my whole family) miss Tom. This time three years ago we were so grateful that Tom and Ann had just moved to this area from Houston. Tom was in the thick of his battle with a GBM (brain tumor) and we were so thankful to have them home so we could be some support to them. I will never forget his last Thanksgiving with us. Jenny picked up Tom and Ann to bring them to our house and Tom insisted on stopping at SavWay, as was his tradition, and picking up some champagne...two magnums of Taittinger. And even though his communication skills were impaired, his sense of humor was not. God, I miss Dane and Tom and Pawp (my dad). They would be the first to say to not be sad, have fun and appreciate the good times. And I do enjoy life, but try to never forget what really matters.

Thanks for allowing me this time to grieve. It isn't pretty or easy but it is important.