Little BFFs

When Solon woke up Sunday morning..and again this morning..the first words out of his mouth were "Luke"...or "Guke" to be more phonetically correct. He loved playing with him all weekend, and it makes me so happy to see them loving one another.

I am looking at these pictures and wish more than anything my dad was sitting in front of his computer and reading the past few posts. To see how happy all of us are and how much we love to spend time with one another. He took so much pride...like my mom does as well...in the fact that not only do I love my sisters but they are truly my best friends.

Sally has this story she tells, and it is a conversation she had on the phone with our dad. It was around 1999, and she and Janie were living together in Starkville. And there were some fights between them..mostly centered around the dishes and taking out the garbage. One day Sally called my dad up and was griping and complaining that Janie didn't seem to be doing her fair share of the work..and all my dad said was "Sally, are you going to let a pile of dishes get in between you and your sister?"

I will carry that one statement with me always. To always step back and see what is really important in my life. After so many difficult months, I feel like my life is slowly piecing itself back together. I owe almost everything to Jay and my sisters. They have been the ones who have been there for me when I couldn't quit crying. Or felt like I couldn't catch my breath. And they have shown me that although things will never be the same and we will all miss my dad, that he wanted nothing more than us to be happy and together. And that is what we did this past weekend.

My dad has been gone for 10 months. That just doesn't seem possible. And I am looking at my first birthday ever without him. No phone call. No card sitting on my mantle.

But I know what I do have. I have sisters who insist I wear birthday hats and make me feel special. I have Bird who wakes up every morning and tells me how beautiful I am. I have my mom who makes me laugh every time I talk to her. I have my Muffin Man who gives me random kisses throughout the day. And so many other wonderful people in my life. And I feel very lucky.