I wonder if I can say that, since my father-in-law's death in April, we're still swamped with taking care of his house and affairs, etc. We've been cleaning out cabinets, moving furniture....and our son (who is now fully back with our family for those of you who've been hanging in there with me in this journey!) was given his grandparent's beautiful dining room furniture...six chairs, huge table, china cabinet, etc. He also was given all of the living room tables...2 end tables, coffee table, sofa table....all cherry to match the dining room furniture. It was a very emotional day today. Our two grandchildren were with us and it made it a wonderful day in many ways.

I wonder if I can say that there have been so many things working together in this past year which have brought our family, as a whole, together again. We've realized where our true priorities rest and, even though hubby's and my priorities were on target, it's nice to see that other family members have come around.....it's good to finally have everyone going in one direction for a change...so much more convenient! Our son is getting married next year and is happier than he's been since he was, probably, about ten years old.

I wonder if I can say that I will have to pass the "hippiechick" down to our 11 year old granddaughter....she was home with us after moving the furniture today and going through jewelry that I'd made last year. After putting nine bracelets on each arm, 6 ankle bracelets on each ankle, 7 rosaries around her neck as necklaces and 4 of them around her head, she truly looked like a child from the '70's....so adorable....and, at 11 years old, already 2 inches taller than her gram.....so not funny. But she got a kick out of it when hubby called me "midget".....whatever!!!

I wonder if I can say that I still feel sad that my fil is gone....we miss him a lot but know that he's not in pain anymore and he can hear again. For the last 12 years of his life, he couldn't hear any of us and we wrote everything to him....but we did it because we didn't want him to miss a second of anything. And he didn't miss a thing....odd that, when you don't hear, you speak incredibly loudly...but it was okay...just a part of his charm. I'm convinced that he could hear us before he died. In the past several hours before his death, he really didn't respond to anything, but I kissed him and told him that I loved him and he told me that he loved me, too. I believe he heard everything I said to him at that point. I wonder if that's really true; I want to believe it is....I do believe it is.

I wonder that our family is incredibly blessed...I used to think lucky; it goes beyond that. We know that we're so far beyond luck...we're thankful to be blessed. We're thankful for our son being back in our lives....that's such a miracle....and we're thankful for everything that comes along our way....we've had our share of troubles, but we choose to focus on the good....the great. In the end, it's so much greater!!!