Kelli shared this picture on her blog today, too. I think it is everyone's favorite of my parents. Bria was 2 days old and we took my parents to see them the day they came home. He was beginning to forget more and repeat himself alot, but as you can see, he could laugh really well. Some Alzheimer's patients become harsh and mean; we were blessed that he didn't do that. He had some difficult times if he had to go to the hospital and would get afraid, but in his usual environment he enjoyed joking around almost as long as he could communicate. We had a special treat tonight...we got to go to Tre's first school program Christmas concert. It was very nice and he did a great job. We got to see him afterwards for a little while and we walked out to the parking lot together. It was getting icy underfoot, and if you know me well you know I don't do well walking on ice. I had hold of both boys' hands and soon Tre said something about holding his hand and I answered, "I'm holding your hand". We repeated the conversation then he finally said, "No, you're hurting my hand." Poor little guy...I didn't realize I was squeezing his hand to hold me up!!
Thought for the day
We have a way of hanging on to whatever is closest when we feel we may fall...even if it's a 6 year old. That's another good reason to make sure that the one we are staying closest to is God in the ordinary, routine days of our lives so that when there is an occasion when we may get tripped up and we reach out, it's Him we are hanging on to. The world offers many substitutes, even good things, that we can use for support and a helping hand, but even if we take advantage of some of these things we must keep them in perspective and remember that every issue or challenge is ultimately a spiritual matter at some level and our truest help and answer is Christ.
