Tales from the Son-in-law

So I was just sitting there minding my own business when Connie asked me what I thought was a fairly harmless request: "Do you think you could help me pick out some new speakers for my computer?" Well, who doesn't like to feel needed, right? Sure, I'd find some good speakers for her, and I did. Only now I fear they might be just a little too good...

Feast your eyes on these "bad boys", or as they are officially called, the Logitech Z-2300 THX certified 2.1 speaker system with 200 watts of power. Connie said she wanted good sound quality, but also something she could crank up. Little did I know how much cranking up she was planning on doing.

Yesterday, the speakers arrived, I set them up, and had to leave for work without really hearing what they could do. When I got home from work Connie didn't even hear me coming into the house. How could she? She was blasting her youtube music videos so loud it didn't matter whether I was upstairs or downstairs - I could hear it just as well no matter what part of the house I was in. All I could think of - think of and chuckle - was how ironic the whole situation was. I mean she's the parental figure, and yet we're the ones having to tell her to turn down her music. This isn't one of the normal mother-in-law complaints most people vent about... I mean can I really, REALLY complain about this? Can I actually say, "too loud" to my daughter's grandma? That would just be so lame.

Next time, I'm going to find her some really nice headphones...

"I Got Cookies!"

In order to understand this, you have to know that Arianna has been sick the last couple of days. Poor thing had a fever Thursday night and Friday, then started with vomiting and diarrhea Saturday morning. She has kept an awesome attitude throughout it all. Most of the time you wouldn't even know she's not feeling well, because she's such a cheerful, happy little thing.

Okay, so a few minutes ago we were all upstairs, including Mom, and Arianna decided to go on one of her usual little escapades down into Mom's area of the house. She's generally pretty good about these little adventures on her own; she mostly just likes to go say hi to the cats down there. After a minute or two of her being down there, we heard our door open, and her cheerful little voice shout up the stairs, "I got cookies!!" The cutest part was the way she said it; it was in the same tone that you would say "I've got pizza!" when entering a house full of hungry people. Sure enough, she had a little package of Oreos in hand, and was already munching away on one. Of course this isn't the snack of our choice while her tummy is so sensitive, but I couldn't find the heart to take it away from her when she found something to be SO happy about.

I think it's awesome how children at this age find such joy in the little things in life. They have so much to teach us, you know?

Blessed

I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time after my last post to share kind words and thoughts with me. Each of your sentiments meant a lot to me, and brought warmth to my heart. Thank you so much.

I hope I didn't sound like I was complaining in my last post. That wasn't my intention at all. I just have moments like those, where I miss Dad a lot, and I generally don't share them with anyone, but think it would be healthier for me to do so. The thing is, I think I've been trying to push my sadness of missing him away, and because of that I tend to just not talk about him at all, because when I talk about him those feelings of sadness generally become involved in some way and I don't want other people to think I'm wanting them to feel sorry for me. But that's NOT what I want to happen - I don't want to stop talking about him just because sometimes it hurts, and I'm afraid of what others will think. I want to remember him! And if that means I have to embrace those not-so-pleasant feelings of missing him as well, and people will have to see that, then so be it. So please know, if I do write or talk about missing him ever, I'm not trying to complain...I just don't want to forget...

The truth is, I feel incredibly blessed in my life. I love my family so much! I cannot imagine having better parents, or a closer connection as a family unit. Having Dad as my father and friend for the 24 years that I had him was worth it, even if it meant I had to lose him after that. During the last year of his life, Dad became almost angelic (and I'm not just saying that - there was honestly something very special that happened to him as he neared death). He demonstrated such amazing examples of unconditional love, faith, dedication, patience, strength, endurance, perseverence, humility and compassion. I am so grateful I was able to experience his presence in my life.

Here's the coolest blessing of all: We will all be together again! Just because I miss him now doesn't mean I will be missing him forever. We have been sealed together in the Holy Temple of God, and can be together for eternity. This time apart is just a short time... How incredible is that? I cannot imagine the JOY that will fill my whole being when we are all able to be together again! What a blessing it is to know that this is not the end of our family...

The Detroit Temple, where our family was sealed in March 2000

Our family the day we were sealed