Oh my goodness, I have had a great time the last couple of days re-reading my blog. I'm a bit sad that I stopped blogging, but I know why I did: Facebook (Crackbook?). I joined FB right before our little Duke was born. It was a way to easily keep in touch with far away family and friends, and it was quite a bit easier than writing every day. All I had to do was add a picture or two and write a little blurb about it. Having 4 kiddos 7 1/2 years old and younger is most likely the most difficult thing I will ever have to do. It is constant worry wondering if everyone is getting the right amount of attention. And that answer is usually, "NO!". But they are ours, and we are theirs and we did the best we could at the time. Oh my! The stories I've read the last day or two! I've forgotten a lot of them so I am ever so grateful that I took the time to write way back when. I will try to catch up a bit as time goes on. We've been through a lot: middle school, high school, college, pandemic. Good grief. One thing I have going for me is that I have always been a picture-taker. I say picture-taker because I'm really not good enough to be called a photographer, but what I do saves the memories and I am sure I will get a story or two out of the pictures I have taken since I stopped blogging. For now, I am just trying to get through all of my prior posts. reading about this time brings back all sorts of feelings: fear, isolation, depression, anger, longing, pride and happiness. Mostly happiness. (I've always been way too critical of myself. Yadda yadda yadda.) We have made a life down here in the South. It is still hard to be so far away from our IA family, but it is what it is. I have often told my kids to "grow where you are planted", and in some ways I have done that but in other ways I have failed myself. I do love to write. The best advice I ever got about writing is this: A writer writes. I have not been writing and that is on me. One thing I am so very proud of is that Princess is a writer. We were talking yesterday on the phone (she lives 3 hours away now...) and she is working on a way to consolidate all of her journal entries in one place. She has been faithfully writing since high school (middle school?) and I am so happy for her. If she has half the fun I've had the last two day re-reading her journal entries, she is going to be one happy camper! (I also faithfully journaled while in high school and college. Maybe one of these days I will break them out and wax poetically about them.)
