On another note.... it has been pointed out to me... again... that I have not written much about some of our other children. Life gets a little crazy and I forget what I have blogged and what I have not. You see, this blog is more for me then for anyone else. I share more details, sometimes, than I probably should.... but I have discovered over the past 3 years that this blog has become a part of my legacy that I can pass on to my children. Maybe "legacy" isn't the exact word I need, but it is something that I have to hand on to my kids. I have never been good at journaling or writing down things for them. When the older ones were little, I had every intent on writing about their life. I would give anything to be able to read about my childhood and "remember" some of the things that have long faded away. I have lost so many memories from my kids childhood that I am afraid I might not have much to pass on. This blog has given me a gift. I have published a few books with the entire blog writings in it. They are priceless books to me; and sort of an heirloom to pass on. I imagine that as the kids become adults and start their families, they will love sharing the little bits and pieces that I have "exposed" in our blog. What wonderful memories (I hope) that my journaling to "you" will bring to my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
All that said, I wanted to write a little bit about Emily. I am afraid that she has gotten the short end of the journaling. You see, much has happened to her this summer , yet I have not written it in the blog. The day school was out, she went to Florida for what was suppose to be a 12 day period. It was a lot to ask of a 17 year old, but both Mark and I felt she was more then able to handle it. You see, we have seen Emily with Elizabeth and Ri. She is their second mom. Truly, if God were to take me home, Emily would step in and raise them as her own. She is incredible. Oh, I know, she is not ready to raise children. I wouldn't want her in that position. She is not mature enough to live on her own and make all the adult decisions that would be forced upon her.... but she could if she absolutely had to. So when my brother surprised his wife with a trip to Italy, all of us agreed that Emily could handle watching the kids. The scary part was that she was 1000 miles away from us so if she really needed anything, I couldn't help her. Oh how my thoughts wondered at times. I thought of all the "what ifs" while she was gone, knowing the responsibility that laid on her shoulders. I knew I coudn't help her and she was completely on her own. My sister, though, lives 45 minutes away from my brother so I knew that if soemthing horrible happened, she would help Em out. The problem was that my daughter has only met my sister a handful of times and unfortunately, the meetings were never really warm ones.
So, Em went down with my parents. When my brother and his wife flew to Italy, my parents came home and Em was on her own. It was only going to be 6 days with the entire load on her. After that, she and the kids would fly to Ohio. The 6 days were long days for her, but she handled them like a trooper. She often mentioned how difficult it was to be "mom". Everyday, I heard her get more and more tired and more weary from the responsibility. But... the 6 days went well and she was very excited to come home. She was going to fly home with my neice and nephew (6 & 8). She was, again, completely responsible for them. It was her first time flying alone, let alone flying with 2 kids she would be responsible for... but she was ready to take it on. My sister took them to the airport. We told her that she could just drop them off and Em could handle boarding. She had to be in a city 2 hours away for orientation for her daughters college. She HAD to be there that night because orientation was early the next morning. But, my sister insisted on staying until they took off incase there were any problems. I sure thank God for her decision and willingness to stay. Emily saw a side of her that was precious, that, alone, was a gift. Evidently, without anyone being aware, the 2 little ones were unable to fly on the last flight of the night. Noone had shared this info with my brother when he booked the flights. So, had my sister not been there, they would have been stranded. Instead of being able to fly home, Emily had to stay in Florida another 6 days and continue to take on the responsibility of caregiver. Not only take care of them, but console them for not being able to come to Ohio (something they had been counting down for weeks). She handled it very well and was very strong for the kids. But.. the next few days began to wear her down. On top of the exhaustion of the responsibility, she was scheduled to take her ACT test in Florida. This is a long story, so I won't explain it... but she now had to figure out those details. She had to arrange sitters and figure out how to get there (a 45 mintue drive). That pushed her over the edge. It was difficult to be on this end, in Ohio, and try to comfort my daugthter in Florida! She was emotionally shot and I knew that she wouldn't do well on her ACT, but we forced her to go anyway. She got up, drove 50 mintues to get there, got lost at the last minute and was 3 minutes late and was not allowed to take the test. It was very rough. But, she held it together. We were very proud of how much she handled and handled with such grace. She truly is a treasure.
I would love to share about her mission trip to Phily, for I have been reminded that I have not said much. But.. I am very, very tired. I will write more later.
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