Something interesting happened today. Stay with me for a minute because this may take a minute (and more than a little sensitivity) to explain.
Amy cried and Santa let out a comical comment about getting passed up for a Marine, to which we all laughed. Jude may not know how special that moment was right now, but I'm glad we got a picture. It's something Amy and I will never forget.
"Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in the countryside in a small house. He occasionally would play in the trees surrounding his house, or perhaps walk along the stream that slowly stirred down the rolling hills.
"Although he was a content boy and happy, there was a world of emptiness inside. He had the trees to play in and his friends, the rabbits, but there was a pain and loneliness deep in his still heart that even the deer and butterflies couldn't fill.
"There was no color in his world. The boy had never seen color before; at least not in the rich, full color that comes from true joy that you or I may see. One day he saw a small puff of pink and splash of bright blue while he'd been laughing and playing with the rabbits. He stopped laughing and looked at the sky in awe at the new sight, but it had faded away as quickly as it had come. Questioningly, the boy sighed and sadly plopped down beside a tree and cried, thinking about the wonderful thing that had lit up the sky for a sweet moment.
"That afternoon, just before his mother was about to call him in for dinner, he was wading his feet in his favorite part of the stream, looking for playful fish or perhaps a smooth-sparkly rock he could skip. His child-like eyes widened as he sighted a conch shell propped up against a large rock at the bottom of the stream.
"A shell? he thought. In my stream?
"He knew that conch shells only came from the magic places his father would tell him about during his bed-time stories, but he never thought he'd see one. Especially in his stream.
"He excitedly rolled up his sleeve and dipped his small hand into the cold water. His heart welled with tears as he picked up the wonderful, colorful shell. Colors of every kind danced and flowed over the surface of the shell and as he looked inside there was a pool of color so deep and wide, so deep and bright that he thought it was heaven. As he was holding the shiny shell, it began to change; it became a beautiful brush. He himself began to change as he took on the very colors the brush was radiating. On the opposite side of the stream was the ladder his father had left where he'd been picking apples before he had gone back to the house. The boy ran to it, brush in hand, and climbed to the very top of the ladder. Stretching his arms out and smiling as wide as the sky, color as beaming and as beautiful as his wildest dreams shot from the brush across the dull sky. It was amazing.
"In that blanket of color, the boy saw a girl as radiant as the rainbow itself and he reached out for her. She came to him smiling.
"Soon the whole land was filled with the rainbow's radiance and the two sat together with their feet wading in the stream's brisk-blue water.
"He never heard his mother call for him, for he had found his friend. His heart was now alive and he felt it beat for the first time.
"He was with Amy.
xxoo
3 Oct 97 Happy 1 year & 10 months!
D.
Happy 11 years since we started dating, Ames.
I'm still holding that brush. You and the kids give me so much life and the color you paint my world leaves me open-mouthed. I am so grateful for you. I love you.
Abbey, Kerrigan, Jessica & Jude at the park in Elyria, OH the day before we headed back to Raleigh.
The last leg of our vacation was a stop near Cleveland to visit dear friends. This is taken at a park close to Brian and Sam's house where we played for what seemed like hours. Visiting the Thomas' was the perfect ending to a great vacation. Amy suprised me with a date and the four of us went to my favorite live blues restaurant, Fat Fish Blue, and had a blast.
Like I said earlier, I was able to go to a Badger game when they played Penn State. This is taken from our seats during the pre-game band performance... what a great time! We stayed for the fifth-quarter performance as well and I got the entire 'Space Badger' bit on video. Classic.
In the picture, we are with old friends, Ruben and Barbara Marbury and their three daughters. Soraya is next to Ruben, Krista is next to Amy, and Bryana is in front of Barbara. We were only in Richmond for only six or seven months when we moved with Ruben and Barbara to Cleveland to help with a church up there.
Before I even met Amy, she was good friends with the Marbury's. She would nanny for Krista when she was just a baby. It's because of them that Amy and I are together. Ruben has been like a father, brother and best friend to me and I am so grateful for their friendship to Amy and I through the years.
Amy's friend, Michelle, was in town and stopped by to visit. They were buds back in Virginia Beach and her and her husband moved to Elizabeth City, NC a few months before we moved down here to Raleigh. We invited them to spend the night because the kids were having such a great time together. Michelle's daughter, Faith, is reading a story to Kerrigan and her sister Micah at bedtime. What a great time we all had together!
Amy, Tiffany & Bethany during our impulsive visit last weekend. We went up to visit Rob and Tiffany since she had her last (yeah!) chemotherapy treatment. It happened to be Rob Rafferty's birthday, so we went over to celebrate with them. Happy Birthday, Rob! Glad we made the trip, we had a really great time.
For fun at my job we were all given an opportunity to make a collage to describe ourselves. When everyone's project was finished and collected, they were all put in a photograph album and set out in the lobby for clients to look at. Being an Architectural / Design firm, there was no lack of creativity - I wish I could post everyone's creation here.
Can't remember if I've mentioned this, but the kids are absolutely in love with all things 'Cars' by Pixar. As a treat, I thought I'd surprise Jude and Kerrigan with a little picture of them with their favorites... I put it on the computer's desktop, so they saw it right away this morning. They were so excited to be 'riding' on King and Sally!
If any of you happened to get the McDonald's happy meal cars and have extra or don't mind parting with them, we missed Lightning McQueen, Ramone, Fillmore & Sally. We have extra Mater & Doc if you're up for a trade as well.
KaChow!
Here's how the competetive eating went:
He couldn't quite process how we could be in the same picture together like this...
Last Monday was Jude's first day of Kindergarten. He has had such a great time and loves school very much.
If you're wondering why he's staring school in July, it because it is a year-round school. Very good actually; 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off for the whole year. Not bad. Seems to be a great system and much of Raleigh is on this schedule.
On Thursday, we had a meet the teacher night at his school already. We all went together and got to meet his friends from class, their parents and Jude's teachers.
When I saw this picture, I couldn't help but think of the picture of my first day of school. I'll post that one when I find it.
This is us on vacation with Amy's family earlier last month... sorry, I forgot to post this one sooner. Probably the most recent 'family shot' we have. We had a great time. Well, Amy and the kids had a great time. I drove them to the beach (4 hours, one way from Raleigh) on a Friday, then I had to come back alone to be back at work that Monday. I got to go back at the end of the week and enjoyed the weekend with them, then we all came back home together on Sunday morning.
