Day 372 - June 22 - Pics from last week (NOT)

OK, here's the anniversary update, only a week late!

To mark the one-year anniversary of Connor's accident, Joélle, Alan, Connor, Josh, Lexi, Cherié and I decided to take a little road trip, so we loaded up the van and ventured farther than Connor's yet traveled away from home this year - all the way to the San Francisco Zoo! It's only about 70 miles from the house, but being that far away from all the stuff that helps us survive this existence was a bit scary. But we did it!

Unfortunately, there seems to be some glitch with Blogger, the online software I use to post to the blog, and it's not letting me upload any pictures right now. Since I've tried four times now to upload the images with no success, and I'm running out of time before I have to leave for work, I'll just post the story and try to add the pictures later. Sorry!

Anyway, we had a great day at the zoo - Joélle imitating each of the animals as she saw them (I'll have to figure out a way to record her version of what a giraffe sounds like and get it on here somehow - priceless!); Josh goofing off on every statue he saw; Alan running up to the lion's exhibit, playing the theme from "Lion King" on his cellfone and shouting "Hold up your children!" to the bemusement of the other visitors while we rolled with laughter; Lexi deciding that nearly every animal in the zoo was scary somehow, and Connor laughing when the big silverback gorilla decided to quit sitting around and suddenly leapt up and slapped the glass directly in front of the boy. It was a very enjoyable trip with the kids, and each of them added something to make the day a special one.

That evening we had a number of people over to celebrate Connor's life, gathering in the backyard to talk a bit about how thankful we are to God for bringing us this far on the journey. That too was a time of laughter and celebration with our friends around us, and was a much needed acknowledgement of God's blessing on us through this past year. I don't have any pictures of the evening, but since I can't post them anyway... 8-)

As I type, Connor and Cherié are still sleeping, and the house is quiet. Today marks the start of the first full week I'll be at work since Joélle and Alan left, and already I'm feeling the difficulty of this routine and how it wears on Cherié, Connor and me (thanks for noticing the grammatical error, Mom. I had written "Connor and I", for those who didn't see it originally. Leave it to my mom and the memory of my English-teaching Grandmother to point these things out to me...). Please continue to lift us up, that there would be joy to be found here in our home, and that we would be able to find laughter and smiles - it is so easy for this existence to fade into gloom, and our spirits just can't take it. My prayer is that each of us would find joy in each day and be able to share it with the others, and I would greatly appreciate your support in this as well.

Speaking of appreciation, I wanted to briefly mention mine for your steadfast support and care for us. Y'all help so much in making this situation bearable, and I want you each to know that. Knowing that you continue to pray and believe with us is immensely helpful, and we value it so much!

I'd like to ask those of you who comment on these posts to do me a favor - if you desire to comment on any of these postings, would you continue to attach them to the post the way we've done it in the past? The Chatterbox is very convenient, but it only keeps comments there for a short period of time, and doesn't attach your comments there to the post you were referencing. This means that there's a good chance that we will miss what you said because it's scrolled off the bottom of the Chatterbox, whereas if you comment on the blog itself, your comments connect to the post you were referencing and we'll be able to see it even if some time goes by between the time of your comment and the time someone looks. I really appreciate your consideration in this!

Again, thank you for your faithful walking with us through this valley. God bless you today and this week.

Eric

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