A quiet event

Jim and Son #2 --- a few days before Son #2 got quite ill with pneumonia and ended up in the hospital -- November, 1992.

     Today was a good day.  I played tennis -- not as well as yesterday, but not as poorly as on Wednesday.

It's all relative.

But most of the day I spent with good friends.  

I love my friends.

I also decided to do this to our wedding bands, which I'd worn since the morning I took Jim to the hospital and had to take his: 

It's probably difficult to see what they actually look like --- iPhones, not so great as cameras -- but I put them inside each other (they fit perfectly together -- imagine) and then turned them at 90 degree angles.  I showed this to the jeweler (the one who should have, but failed to, send me a card) and had them connect them so that I could wear them on a chain.  They look much better in person.  

I don't know I did this at this point ---- I thought I'd wear them on my fingers a whole lot longer -- it just felt right.  I seem to be going with my gut a lot more than I used to.  I mean, I always have relied on that, but not as freely as I do now.

     So now my left ring finger is bare.  Except for the white line around it where my ring used to be.  And the same for my middle finger, where I wore his ring.

Another milestone.

Not a good one, but it's there.

Oh, and before I go .... Son #3 made the A team in football!!!  He played on the C team last year and his coaches said he had improved a lot (and I thought he played great last year!).  He was very proud ..... as am I.

As is Jim.

That's all ---- I think that's more than enough for one day.

Bittersweet

This is Jim and Son #1, on the farm .... 1991.

I love it here with J & L. I love spending time with them and I love that they are a part of Jim. But it also makes me sad. J is spending a lot of time playing football and catch with the boys. It's great to watch them but it also hurts. Jim used to do that. He loved throwing the football with the boys.
This is one of those heart lows. My heart feels low. Hard to explain but maybe you get the picture.
Very, very bittersweet. Today I can not believe that he's not here.

But I will move ahead with the post. Or actually, backwards. Here are some pictures from yesterday:

This is Son #3, who begged me to take his picture here because the Oscar Meyer-mobile was in the parking lot behind him. Go. Figure.


And here he is being brave and asking the Oscar Meyer driver if he could please sit in the front seat so that I can take his picture (I urged him to ask). Mr. Oscar Meyer said no. Really, he actually told this cute-faced boy "no". He even told ME "no" when I asked. What?! Like he was going to hi-jack the bologna-mobile?!!
Again -- go figure.


Here's a balloon going over the back yard:


Here are Sons #1 & #3 in an English phone booth that, for some strange reason, is in Carlsbad:



Here's Son #3 next to a cool tree in said town:


Here's a shot of the tree, looking up. I'm not sure what type of tree it is, but it was interesting.


Daughter #2:


Son #3 and S. They made great sand castles:


My two mentally unbalanced younger sons, swimming in the freezing water. C'mon, you can tell it's cold from just looking!


Our group, plus the "boot".



So there you have it. That was yesterday. Today we've hung around the house and the pool. I'm not sure what's up for tomorrow. The kids and I will go to Disney Land one day this week.
I'd appreciate your prayers. I don't want to be sad here.
Sad in paradise.
Go figure.