Well, it's been almost a whole week since my last post, so I figured I owe it to my (growing) audience to continue to chronicle the life & times of me...

Let's see, as y'all know, I left for Portland after Tyson's game on Saturday (which they lost by a touchdown & an extra point, bringing our boys their first loss & making their record 5-1 now. Coach & I both agree that one loss is good for character, but that we can't get any more...). I didn't get up there until 6:30, then managed to be in the wrong lane at a critical point in the directions once I got into town & was completely lost! I finally did the female thing & asked for directions, arriving at Sarah's mom's place at 7pm. Sarah came running out to greet me, with Isabella in her arms. Isabella is just over a year old now & kept saying my name over & over. I thought it was really sweet that Sarah had taught her to say it. Ethan just turned four & remembered me from my visit last summer. These are some cute kids! They're also very smart! Everyone was surprised at how quickly Isabella took to me, which made me feel super special, of course!

The plan was to go to the Tavern around the corner & hang out. I told Sarah that if I could only see her one night in a year, I planned to stay up & hang out all night! Well...we had a few drinks & I'm just not the partier I used to be. I was puking by 12:30. So much for my all-nighter! Sarah, of course, was busy taking pictures of me the whole time! I finally passsed out & was woken up by Isabella the next morning. She was sitting up in the dark babbling and playing. She came over & crawled into bed with me & showed me her "bracelet" (a jar ring). It's a good thing she woke me up, because Sarah had forgotten to set her alarm for the walk!

I got up & was getting ready, and Sarah told me that no one would think any less of me if I didn't go to the walk, so I didn't go. Hah! Gotcha! I just smiled & said that I knew that, while thinking to myself that I wasn't doing this for anyone else but Shannon. I got to the World Trade Center (on time!), where the walk began & got registered & had some coffee. I just kinda sat there by myself until the speakers did their announcements & we began the walk. I felt a little silly, but I picked up a sign to carry around advertising a website for suicide prevention. A young woman & her mom struck up a conversation with me & asked me who I was walking in memory of, so I told them my story & they shared theirs with me. This girl had lost her dad & a close friend within 3 weeks of eachother. Her mom explained that this was her ex-husband and she'd lost a lot of friends over the fact that they didn't feel like she should be mourning him...What is that all about? What struck me the most, I think, is that this girl had tears in her eyes & had a hard time keeping it together when she told me about her dad & friend, yet it had been three years. I guess it never goes away altogether, does it? Anyway, the walk was over before we knew it, and when we came back, we all got to light a candle in memory of the loved ones we'd lost to suicide & I lit mine & sent up a "Happy Birthday!" to Shannon. After that, I went back & visited with Sarah & her mom & brother some more before I had to come home to get Tyson & start our week.

I would go into how the week's been, but I'll save it for my next post, since this one turned out so dang long...I do want to give a shout out to my dear ol' dad, whose birthday is today! Love you, Dad! Also, happy belated birthday to my beautiful neice, Careyanna (15), my dear friend, Denise (we won't go there), one of my three favorite brothers, Joe (the big 4-0! Impossible!), and to Randy, my bro-in-law that I just wrote about last week & who happens to share Shannon's birthday! One more birthday coming up....Yep, you, Laura! Happy Halloween, ya witch! Love you!