The past is always with us

Yesterday I made a flying trip to see my grandfather and had a very good visit. As I mentioned in a previous post, my grandfather was rushed to the hospital a week ago on Thursday with complications from his COPD which at the time seemed to be a heart attack. After a week in the hospital he is now at home and so I wanted to go for a visit. We were afraid that all the kiddos might be too much for him if he wasn't feeling well, plus it would probably make more work for my grandmother, so Kelly stayed here to keep them and I made a day trip to Abilene.

It was a good visit which I enjoyed very much. But it was also very hard to see one of the strongest men I have ever known wasting away before my eyes. But yesterday was also a day that remain in my memory a long time as I heard him talk about times we've shared as a family, times before I (or my mom) was even thought of, and about his deep faith in the Lord. He even teared up a few times, especially as he talked about how the family has been around him, helping him in the last couple of weeks.

I usually keep books on tape or cd in the house, as I listen to them as I run on our elliptical machine. I've been listening to A Tale of Two Cities and I took it with me yesterday on the drive to and from Abilene. I finished it today (in fact I wasn't quite through when I got done with my workout, so I sewed on Aubrey's doll dress so I could stay in the room to finish it). All I can say is WOW. I had never read this before; but, in spite of a very mediocre narrator, I completely understand why it is considered a classic. Even though it is set in the French Revolution over two hundred years ago, it is such a powerful tale that will continue to resonate as long as the English language lasts.
This last week I got much accomplished in the school planning area. I got science planned out until the Christmas break. I have Tapestry as planned out as I can get until I get my map cd and my books. I'll be placing my big book order this week, with proceeds from the conference I worked last week. I also have our devotional planned out for several months and I'm working on a new chore chart. I have to tweak it every once in a while as the girls grow up and I can spread the duties out to other girls, or as our schedule changes I will shift chores to less busy days.

I still need to finesse a few final things. When I added Brynna to the "Academy" last year, it turned out to be not a very big deal as Kora and Aubrey's independence in several areas has greatly increased in the last year or two. However, this year I'll have a Kinder and a 1st grader who won't be as independent, so I'm sure I'll be tweaking the order we do things as we go along. But I'm looking forward to it.

Here's one final shot of me with my grandparents: Marvin Adams, Staff Sargent in the China-Burma-India theater of WWII, elder of his church for over 30 years, married for 64 years to Bonita Woods Adams.