Yesterday, November18, 2022, Erik's father passed away. Please pray for the repose of Emory Gonzales' soul and for all of the Gonzales family.

In the middle of our family movie night I received news that my father-in-law needed prayers and that he may be leaving this world. I turned the movie off and told the kids that we needed to pray for Grandfather because it was very likely that he was gone. All of them immediately got up on their knees and we prayed for his soul. A couple of them began to cry. They were closer to him than I had been with my Grandpa or Pappy, at least at such a young age. Emory loved to visit with his grandkids and to see them playing. 

Because we were "homeless" this summer coupled with a notable change in Emory's health we made a road trip to Washington State to see the family. My kids were talking about that today and they were so happy that they were able to see him in August. I am glad that they were able to have that. Glad for myself as well, he was a very generous and loving father-in-law. 

After our prayers last night, Felicity looked up at me with her sweet little cherub face and very softly, delicately and with a touch of matter-of-fact said, "I am going to die very soon." She did not seem to be phased or intimidated by the thought. I asked her about her statement and she told me it was because of the lump in her arm, "it is getting bigger, feel it." If you don't remember or are new here, I found a lump in Felicity's arm 4 months after Erik died. It is being monitored. It is a boney tumor called an osteochondroma. It seems to have recently grown a lot. It is very likely not a problem but there was something about the way she said it that penetrated. I am not saying that Felicity was predicting anything but it was attention grabbing.

At the ages of 4, 8, 9, 10, 12 & 13 I had not known loss to any real depth. These children of mine have a pretty full scope on the matter.  A friend did point out that as the kids get older these early lessons might help them to reflect, more fully, on the passing nature of this world.  Personally I think that is beautiful. We are in this world, not of this world.