More Sadness

Lately it seems that all I've written about it sadness. Unfortunately, I guess sometimes in life we have periods where sadness seems to be everywhere. Right now is one of those times.

This past weekend one of our deputies died from a heart attack. While death in itself is sad this situation is particularly sad because our officer and Mike's friend was only 31 years old. He had only been married for 3 years and had recently had his first child, a baby boy not quite 6 months old. His funeral was held today. It was a beautiful cermony and I felt honored to stand among the 200+ police officers as they stood at attention and saluted him one last time. This time we did not ride in the procession. There were so many police cars in the procession that I was unable to count them all. Their blue lights flashing in rememberance of an officer and a friend. It was an amazing sight and one I'm sure he would have been proud to be a part of.

The service was beautiful. There were 3 different pastors that stood up and talked, one being Adrian's father-in-law. The key message in all of the sermons was that we never know our time and place to be called Home and that we have to live each minute as if it were our last. That after we are gone our actions and how we touched others will live on so we should make use of our time in a manner that reflects Christ's influence in our lives, that imitates Christ's love for us.

Any funeral is difficult, especially for those who were so close to the one who has passed but a funeral for a police officer is especially difficult for us to go to. There were many that we know who did not go to the service. I think that it is a huge reminder of the dangers that they each face every day. It just hits too close to home. I hated that those we know who didn't go didn't get to say their goodbyes but I also realize that they can say goodbye in a different, more private way. I don't fault them for not wanting to be there. It truly was difficult to be there.

We know the dangers of being a police family. I know that any day I could get a call saying that Mike has been injured or killed in the line of duty. You never expect though that your husband is going to die at 31 from a heart attack. It's unexpected and such a tradegy. We prepare ourselves (although we can never be fully prepared) to have an officer knock on our door to deliver the news that your husband has been hurt but you never expect that one day your young and healthy husband will die from something like this. It's unthinkable, unbelieveable and just completely heartbreaking.

Please keep this family and the our Sheriff's office family in your prayers. We have lost a wonderful officer, a tremendous asset to our community and a great friend.

Words Can Not Express

Because I have no words that can truly express my saddness and my graditude for the family and friends of Michael I thought I would show some pictures from his funeral today. They speak the words that I can not find....

Another Fallen Soldier

This past week on Monday Sept. 10, 2007 the war in Iraq claimed another soldier's life. This time it was a member of our church family. A young man named Michael. He was only 21 years old. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne, a division that both his grandfather and father had been a part of. He was serving his second tour in Iraq and was due to come home on November 11th... Veteran's day. He and the men he was with were on their way back from a successful mission when they encountered small arms fire. The truck they were in struck a barrier and tumbled 50 feet off a bridge. Michael lived for a short time. He made his final trip home today.

His funeral is on Thursday at our church. Mike and I will be in the procession leading from the funeral home to the church. We are going to be in the Task Force marked car. The police escort should be amazing. Many agencies will be present. It is only fitting that a hero like Michael, who put his life on the line abroad should be escorted by those who put their lives on the line on the homefront. He deserves to be shown the respect and admiration that he has earned. His family deserves to know just how much the community cares for not only their son's sacrifice but for them as well. Not only did Michael sacrifice for all of us, but they did as well.

My heart is breaking for their family. When my Mike was in the military it was always my deepest fear that I would see a government vehicle pull up in my driveway. Now my deepest fear is having a police vehicle pull up in the driveway and his partner getting out to deliver the news to me that he has been injured or lost his life doing his duty. That sense that they did the right thing, the honorable thing that most of us can't even imagine, can only be a small consolation when you are facing a life without your loved one in it. Still that knowledge that they have given all for something so important truly is a consolation. To know that they lived their life doing what they loved most and died for something that they deemed so important will help them get through this time.

As a mother I can somewhat understand that pain that is piercing Cyndi's heart. After our recent loss I know that the loss of a child at any stage, is almost more than you can bear. Hopefully they will rely on their faith to get through what will be the darkest days of their lives.

As the wife of a ex-Marine and a police officer I can understand the pride that I know they feel regarding their son doing all he could to contribute to making this world a safer and better place for all of us. It's not a job that all can do. It takes a special person to answer that call, to face the danger and to give his life for others.

Thursday is going to be difficult. I think because of our recent loss I am feeling even more overwhelmed than normal. This has opened up the wounds that I hoped were healing. It is a reminder that life is so short and no matter how much time we have with our children, be it 3 months, 21 years or a lifetime, we shouldn't take a single one of those minutes for granted. We should smile and laugh with our children more often, we should let go of the little things, we should play more and worry less and we should always say I love you as often as we can.

Please pray for Michael's family. They will need as much as they can get in the upcoming days, weeks and months (and longer!) Please pray for our community and for our church family. And finally, if you'll continue to pray for our family as we continue to heal we'd appreciate it.

Back to School!

You Know You're A Homeschool Mom When...

You get to change more than diapers, you get to change their minds.

When a child busts a lip, and after seeing she's okay, you round up some scotch tape to capture some blood and look at it under the microscope! see here

You find dead animals and actually consider saving them to dissect later.

Your children never ever leave the "why?" stage.

When your teenager decides to take one community college course, and comes home and asks you why the teacher wrote "At" on his paper. (A+)

You ask for, and get, a copier instead of a diamond tennis bracelet for your wedding anniversary.

Your kids think reading history is best accomplished while lying on the floor with their head resting on the side of their patient dog.

Your husband can walk in at the end of a long day and tell how the science experiment went just by looking at the house.

You never have to drive your child's forgotten lunch to school.

Your child will never suffer the embarrassment of group showers after PE.

The only debate about the school lunch program is whose turn it is to cook.

You never have to face the dilemna of whether to take your child's side or the teacher's side in a dispute at school.

If your child get's drugs at school, it's probably Tylenol.

Your neighbors think you are insane.

Your kids learn new vocabulary from their extensive collection of "Calvin & Hobbes" books.

Your formal dining room now has a computer, copy machine, and many book shelves and there are educational posters and maps all over the walls.

You have meal worms growing in a container....on purpose.

If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you're having a PTA meeting.

Talking out loud to yourself is a parent/teacher conference.

You take off for a teacher in-service day because the principal needs clean underwear.

You can't make it through a movie without pointing out the historical inaccuracies.

You step on math manipulatives on your pre-dawn stumble to the bathroom.

The teacher gets to kiss the principal in the faculty lounge and no one gossips.

Your honor student can actually read the bumper sticker that you have put on your car.

If your child claims that the dog ate his homework, you can ask the dog.

Some day your children will consider you to be a miracle-working expert and will turn to you for advice.

Your kids refer to the neighbor kids as "government school inmates."

You can't make it through the grocery produce department without asking your preschooler the name and color of every vegetable.

You can't put your produce in your cart without asking your older student to estimate it's weight and verify accuracy.

You live in a one-house schoolroom.