Updating Where We Are Now

After a few years hiatus, I thought I would like to update where we are now. I've missed writing, but have been busy with different projects and other issues. It is so easy to get out of the habit of writing!
1. UPDATE on David
Generally speaking, David has been doing better for the last two years. He's had his usual ups and downs, but is doing a good job at keeping stable. He had a few rough months this last winter, and after consulting with his doctor, realized that his lack of sleep is a big part of the problem. The doctor changed up his meds a little, had him take the meds later in the evening, and gave us a referral to a book that deals with sleep issues: "No More Sleepless Nights." Addressing his sleep issues seems to be helping David with his attitude and energy levels.
Last summer David was asked to help in a small congregation in our stake (like a diocese) at an apartment complex for elderly and disabled people. After some hesitation and a great deal of anxiety, he decided that he would like to try it. He loves it! And the experience of working with others who deal with similar issues to his, along with the warmth and love and acceptance he feels there is an important part of his healing. He takes his assignments to help seriously and he is growing spiritually as he prays every day and reads the scriptures several times a week. Serving others makes a huge amount of difference in controlling his disorder.
David's mother passed away around the same time as his new church assignment. Her passing, which means he has no nuclear family members left since his father, brother, and sister all died some years ago, and the closing of her home and all the memories attached to it was painful. We appreciate our oldest son's handling of the estate, and David is adjusting to the new normal reasonably well.
2. UPDATE on the Family
After spending eleven years in Mexico, our daughter Lara and her children moved back to the States last summer. (If you notice, the summer of 2016 was exceptionally busy!)
We were amazed at how smoothly and quickly everything fell into place: airline tickets at a great price, a home for them to stay in, a car, and jobs for Lara and her oldest son.
We are so happy to have them here and to get to know the children, ages 10, 13, 16, and 18. The change has been challenging for them, but they are doing a great job adjusting to having their lives turned upside down.
We also had two deployments with our military guys. Our son-in-law spent time in the Middle East, and Brian is currently doing a short tour of duty in Europe.
3. Other Odds and Ends
Along the way we have been making some much-needed home improvements: we are enjoying the garage, had new concrete done last year, and are working on making our yard better looking. I've been especially excited with the addition of two new fruit trees.
There have been several trips around the area, and we recently bought a new to us Jeep CJ7, along with a new truck and camper. We are looking forward to many coming adventures!

Our new dwarf peach tree in bloom

Our new dwarf Asian pear tree in bloom

early in the cement project

Martin Luther King Weekend

The week around Martin Luther King's birthday is always a time for introspection and sentimental musings for me because there are several birthdays in the family this week and it is the anniversary of my mother's death 33 years ago.

I made the mistake of not coming to terms with the loss of my mother at the time it happened. Instead, I buried my grief for years. I couldn't even talk about her or my childhood, even though I had a long, happy childhood and loving memories of her, for more than 15 years. Our oldest son Jon, and my daughter Lara also have birthdays that coincide with the anniversary, and I felt that I had to be at least reasonably cheerful for their birthdays.

Fortunately, some friends helped me talk through my feelings, and I came across the book, Motherless Daughters at a bookstore. I didn't have the money to buy it at the time, so I read and cried through it at the store. That was when I realized that it was all right to miss my mother (I still do), and I can honor her memory by the way I choose to live my life. Healing finally came when our sweet granddaughter Alicia Maree was born six years ago on that same date. I felt my mother's spirit when I held that precious newborn, and it gave me a sense of the circle of life.

I spent part of the long weekend sorting through old family pictures, looking at images of the family as they were growing up and wondering where the time went. My problem is that I am hopelessly sentimental and have SO MANY pictures (boxes of them, to be honest) that I get overwhelmed trying to sort through them. I start organizing them, then end up putting the pictures back because I run out of time. And they sit for several more months before I get brave enough to try again. This time I left the boxes in the living room to motivate me to go through them sooner rather than later. Notice that I don't say HOW soon that will be? David and I were joking about my problem, and I told him the good news is that I don't have any more film to develop and I will never get duplicate photos again. Thank goodness for digital cameras!

I've been working on writing a series of stories about service for the magazine, and have also been watching the developments in Haiti; my heart goes out to those who are suffering such unimaginable pain and to those who are there trying to help them. It restores my faith in mankind to see such outpouring of love and help from around the world. I am also grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the Church's efforts to help.

It seems appropriate to consider Martin Luther King Jr.'s words on the subject: "Agape is understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill toward all men. Agape is an overflowing love, which seeks nothing in return. Theologians would say that it is the love of God operating in the human heart. When you rise to love on this level, you love all men not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, but you love them because God loves them."

Or, as King Benjamin taught his people in the Book of Mormon: "When you are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2:17)