Good bye to a brave soul

One of the bravest men I've ever met died in an African village yesterday. He'll have no grave stone or obituary, just the memories of those who knew him. No one knows his exact age, he was born before it was considered important to keep track of those things. We guessed his age in his 70s when we knew him. At that time, he would think nothing of climbing 70 foot palm trees to collect coconuts or enter a cluttered, dark building to come out with his machete and a dead poisonous snake. I never saw fear on his face. We called him "Vieux Karr" Vieux means old in French and we might say Old Man Karr in English, but the term conveys more respect than that. It's more like "Papa Karr". He had no children who survived to care for him in his old age, so was cared for by the church he attended. He was well loved there as one of the few elderly people in what is a very young church. They are mourning him today and preparing his funeral. Good bye Vieux Karr. I look forward to meeting you again one day.

Clowning

Isaiah discovered clowning last weekend. I think he's found his calling.

The Golden Nugget

I call the subtitle of this post "The Golden Nugget" because of where we are in the child raising journey. When we moved to Wisconsin and I started a blog we had four children under 10. We were done moving and had every intention of settling in for the long haul- seeing our children go to high school and even college here, adding on to our home and improving on it as we are able. At that time (all of 2 1/2 years ago), high school years seemed very far away indeed. It struck me the other day though that the "Golden Nugget" is really half way gone. In another 2 1/2 years, my oldest starts high school. Gasp! And Gasp again! This truly takes my breath away. I have 2 1/2 years with him so close to me, with all of us waking to read and talk before breakfast and the beginning of our school day together. (Oldest plans to attend high school so he will no longer be in our home school at that time). After the shock, I am thanking God for the reality that has stared me in the face. Because now, today, I am so much more thankful than ever for the closeness that we share and loving that I am seeing this now and not on the eve of his leaving. They are growing up --so-o-o- fast. We are watching videos as we (attempt) to transfer them onto DVD that are bringing the reality of how fast they change home to me too. Hug your babies, your toddlers, elementary school and middle school students! They are so precious.