Who would have thought?

Yesterday was my last day of work. It becomes official at beginning of business on Tuesday - I am retired. It's been quite a week for me...people stopping by my desk to say goodbye, or to say they thoroughly expect me to stop back sometime when we come "home" to visit Scott. And yesterday was an extremely emotional day - trying to get things done, a few problems here and there, little fires which needed extinguishing. And so, by the time I got to my wonderful party at 3 oclock, I thought I was doing well - tears had fallen during the day at various intervals but I had a handle on it.

Uh huh, sure I did.

It was a wonderful party and I did quite well until I opened my gifts - my co workers were so generous. And then it was time for me to speak. Saying good bye is just not something I am good at, and even though it came out ok, I woke up this morning thinking of all I could have added. There were three banners hanging on the wall with so many wonderful sentiments written on them, I didn't dare read them until I got home. This is also when I read some of the cards which were written by people I have come to love and respect - some of them in the background of this picture. Long story short - the smile on my face above is how I feel - truly. It was taken when I saw Ron and Kasey walk into the party and I thanked God that this is where my future lies - Ron has always been my life, but now we have another excellent adventure ahead of us. I look back on all the things God has brought us through, and I am so thankful, but I am sure that He has so much ahead of us as well.

When Ron and I got married nearly 40 years ago, Richard and Karen Carpenter had a mega hit - We've Only Just Begun.

Honey, here we go again - just beginning. But I have a feeling that every once in awhile, I just might be looking back - to savor the memory of 14 years working with friends in a job I loved.

God bless our troops.

Days with Kasey


Hi friends.

Sorry - it's been awhile since I've been here (or anywhere in the blogging world) but the days are pretty busy right now. This weekend, we are taking some time off to take Scott and Veronica, Luke and Kasey to the circus. Send in the clowns. (I don't like clowns).
Things are winding down here - I have exactly 5 more working days and then I will be an old(?) retired lady. This will be bittersweet for me - the other morning I went into my boss' office, shared a few tears, and said that this will likely be very hard for me to do. I think it's because I have enjoyed my job thoroughly - and have made some wonderful friends along the way.
And so, in just a Monday thru Friday work week, the days of phone calls and emails and processing and procedure writing will end and become - instead - days with Kasey. Selfishly, I feel they are passing too swiftly, and yet this mother's heart knows that the goal is for Laurie to get through school, Stephen to return from the sand, and all of them to be together. Mya, their dog (who gets to live with Laurie), will be glad when she doesn't have to spend her days cooped up in the bathroom. :)
I plan to write a story about all of this - about the coming days with Kasey...and all the ones that have passed since he came to live with us. Pictures and memories, reflections on being his grandma - and his guardian. The story will be written when Ron and Kasey and I are finally in our RV home somewhere across the country. I am thinking of nights spent in a cozy little living room, which is 3 steps away from the kitchen (excuse me, the galley- sorry Ron). There will be "weather" no doubt, but I'm just gonna hunker down and be retired-put a sweatshirt on if need be. That could be the toughest decision of the day - should it be my sweatshirt, or one of Ron's flannel shirts? Anyway, there will be pictures and some of Kasey's artwork, and a few odds and ends from Hobby Lobby :) and give it to Laurie and Stephen for Christmas. By then, Laurie will have completed her first phase of the program she is in and will hopefully be stationed back at home with Stephen. And then HER days will be with Kasey.
I also have something planned about Veronica - about the weekends she spent with us while Scott was living here during the first year of his separation from Tina.
It will be called, "Weekends with Papa" and I will give this to Scott when it is finished.
I hope that each of these books - Kasey's and Veronica's - will be something that will help them to remember the days we have spent together.
So the other day, as I cleaned out my personal things from my desk at work the other day (cleaning a little at a time each day), I found many things that could go into a personal scrapbook. One that I will enjoy putting together when leaving isn't quite so fresh in my mind, and the days of retirement are being enjoyed in an RV park somewhere in this great country of ours.
Stephen called the other night - they've been busy. :( Not what a mom wants to hear. But we are nearly 7 months into it all and on the down side. This is a blessing.
Thanks to all of you who have stopped in while I've been awol. While I was gone, I celebrated a birthday. My 62nd - lots of years behind me, more than there are ahead of me but God has a journey planned and I will follow it's path as far as it reaches.
Hard to believe that we'll be on the road in just about 5 or 6 weeks. But so will my computer.
God bless our troops and all of us who love them.

Celebrating Kasey!

In an Army hospital, four years ago today and in the wee hours of the morning, Kasey was born. He was little and kind of frail; had some breathing problems and the kids were scared. And when they took him to the intensive care nursery, so was I. Stephen stood next to the isolette saying, "come on buddy," and all I could do was stand next to Stephen and pray. Once Laurie was in recovery, Stephen told me to go back to their house and get some sleep. I fought the urge to stay because I thought they needed some time alone. And so I left...but on the way out of the hospital, I stopped in the chapel. It was nearly dawn, no one else was there. Except for God and His Son who sat with me, listened to my prayers and calmed my fears.

When I got back to Stephen and Laurie's, I looked around at the home that was ready to receive a little boy and the tears finally flowed, and I fell asleep on the couch for all of two hours. When I awoke, I called the hospital. Kasey was out of ICU, swaddled in a receiving blanket and sleeping like an angel in his isolette in Laurie's room.

Four years later, those moments come back to me as some of the most precious in my life. Seeing him being born, understanding that he was completely in God's hands, and trusting in that perfect care that God provides.

And so this morning, the first thing Laurie did when she got up was to open the package I sent to her earlier this week - the pictures I had taken last week to mark Kasey's fourth year birthday. And she loved them. She took them all to school to show her friends, and they loved him. Who wouldn't? :)

Tonight we had Kasey's favorite for dinner - chicken noodle casserole and bisquits. I made him a yellow cake with chocolate frosting - and four candles.

Kasey stayed home from school until his daddy called late this morning, and then - armed with the mini cupcakes grandma made and skippy cups that went with them, he and grandpa headed to school. When I got home from work tonight he was sitting and waiting for me - wondering if he could open his "big" presents. And so he did and the squeals when he opened them all were so happy.

Tomorrow a party with Scott and Veronica and Luke. But tonight, well, tonight I am just basking in the peace that comes with having a four year old birthday boy running around the house with his dinosaur transformer. I know that Laurie and Stephen miss him - and that he misses them, but oh Lord, I am so grateful that I am still young enough to enjoy the wonders of a little boy's birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KASEY! WE LOVE YOU.

God bless our troops and those who love them. Especially a little 4 year old boy, far from his mom and dad but trusting there will be a time when they will all be reunited when the deployment is over.

What makes a house a Home?


Here we are - finally doing the packing thing. Deciding what we can keep that will be appropriate to carry with us in our RV full time, what we can give away without much pain, and are we going to be able to actually get rid of things with out being sorry about it later. You know - if you've ever had to move, or downsize, or REALLY condense your stuff - it's not easy. I probably still have every card I ever received; have every little trinket and souvenir the kids have brought home from garage sales or school field trips, or dollar stores. Just for me, given with proud smiles.
And mugs? Where the heck am I going to put 30 mugs in my trailer? And I won't part with any of them because I've actually been able to get rid of 4 or 5 - all others stay. Well at least for another week until I downsize them again next week. :)
So tonight, Ron mentioned that he is going to steam all the wall paper off the walls in the entrance hallway so the new owner of the house won't have to do it. At first it upset me because, you see, it's patriotically themed. Laurie helped me pick out the wallpaper and the border when she was home on leave during a major remodeling project. On these walls hung my little pictures of angels holding flags, of a little girl dressed in red, white and blue, and where I hung the poem I wrote for Laurie a long time ago. The Heart of A Soldier - my only published written work. There is another wall - in an RV - waiting for them.
So I realized, as I took all of these wall hangings down, that no matter what the walls look like without the paper, no amount of steaming will remove the feelings represented on that wall for so many years. The pride, the love, the thanksgiving - all the joy, and fear, and faith that go into being an American military mom can't be steamed off my heart, or my memory.
So what makes a house a home? Not walls, or interior decorating, not anything material.
It's the memories, the love, and family happenings shared within these walls. And they will go with us no matter where we go.
God is good.
Blessings my friends.
And may He bless our troops wherever they serve, and those who wait.