What I really want to say

..is something incredibly witty.


Something comforting.


Something to make it all okay.


Something quietly powerful that will make everyone who hears it say, "Wow."






I can't seem to find those words. I've been trying for the past two days to come up with those words.....but they keep escaping my grasp.


The word is starting to get out, so some of you might already know this, but if you don't, our family's been dealing with a bit of shock and grief for the past two days. A good friend of ours back east lost her husband in a motorcycle accident early on Wednesday morning. In an ironic twist, it happened not far from where we are currently living....approximately 3000 miles away from our friend's home and their children.

Our grief is nothing compared to our friend's, or that of their children. My heart hurts for them. I can't stop thinking about them and wishing that I could somehow, magically make myself travel back to Maine to hug them, to do silly things like cook and clean for them that I know they just don't want to do themselves, but that someone needs to worry about. That's what I'm good at.....taking care of the day-to-day crap...I just wish there was some way for me to do that for them.

It's so hard for me to grasp the reality of what has happened. Just before the accident, we'd been making plans to see our friend out here. I can't quite comprehend that our planned dinner isn't going to happen. Explaining it to our kids was more than I could handle - thank God I have a strong husband who could find the right words. Our kids know this family well - in fact, I think they spent just as much time with my friend and her husband as they did with us sometimes. The big two were unceremoniously dumped onto them before a OB visit when I was pregnant with Nicholas and there just so happened to be an ice storm and I couldn't take the boys to the appointment with me. Like the wonderful friends that they are - there were no questions asked, and the answer was "Sure, we have heat and power (unlike our house), and the boys are more than welcome here." The answer was the same thing an hour later when I nervously called to tell them the OB wasn't letting me go home, but I had to get to the hospital and we were about to have our third child...they swear that they didn't notice the two extra kids all weekend as we welcomed Nicholas to the world, but I'm sure it wasn't as easy as they made it out to be.

I could go on for pages about this man's generosity, and about how much Mike and I enjoyed being around him, if I could stop crying long enough to try to put it into coherent sentences. But I can't, so that will have to come at a later point. My heart hurts too much.

I know a bunch of you out there pray on a regular basis. If you could, please add this family to your prayers. They need it.

Thank you.



Eternal rest grant unto Anthony, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.