Hannah’s Journey

Happy birthday, Hannah! Today would have been Hannah’s 17th birthday. She celebrates her second birthday in heaven. So many thoughts and emotions are a part of this day. Even though she was with us such a short time, how can we not celebrate the joy she gave us throughout her life?

Summer has been passing quickly. Bill, Colin, Austin and I drove out to Cary, Illinois at the end of July to attend the wedding of our niece, Karah, to a great guy named Matt. She looked absolutely breathtaking (as did my sister, Dori, as mother of the bride) and the wedding was truly beautiful. The reception was a lot of fun, too. After the wedding, we flew from Chicago to Wyoming to visit Bill’s parents. We visited Yellowstone, canoed, hiked and swam. It was great to visit both sets of grandparents. We always tell our children how fortunate they are to have both sets of grandparents to visit. Bill’s parents have been married 57 years, mine have been married 56 years, and Bill and I celebrated 27 years on July 31.

We are lucky to be able to talk to Nathan on an almost daily basis via the computer. He is doing great and loves the work he is doing. He is now in Zambia and often has interesting stories to tell us. My sister, who was visiting this week, found it funny that he called me from Africa to ask cooking advice. It’s nice to know he still needs his mother.

Colin turned 19 on August 7th and is currently in North Carolina with friends. He starts school on August 31, and probably will go back a few days before that. I expect to get calls from him regarding cooking also this year, since he will have a kitchen in his apartment. We really enjoyed having him home for the summer.

Austin found out today that his braces will come off in October, so I find that pretty exciting. He has had an active summer and now I am enjoying telling him each morning how many days until school starts (3 weeks from today). Of course, I don’t let him know I have to go back in 2 weeks, or he may turn the tables on me.

Thank you all for continuing to check up on our family. Some days, like today, are harder than others, but we continue to do well, even though there is always the ache of missing our Hannah.