A good visit and lots of visitors

Melissa, Mark, and Will arrived Thursday night, April 3, after a nine-hour drive from Iowa. Will did really well traveling, so they only stopped twice. I thought he did really well the entire visit except for refusing to take naps now and then. Too much going on that was new, I guess.

On Friday we lunched at Cheeseburger in Paradise, someplace M & M had never been, and while we were there in walked grandson Josh and his girlfriend Honesty. I think my calling out to him startled him, but I was glad to see the two of them and have them see Will (and Melissa and Mark, of course). Friday evening granddaughter Heather, Jeff, Payton, Madison, and Lillian came for a visit. The two sets of young parents compared notes and passed the baby around while I enjoyed playing with the three girls.

Neighbors Ann and Bill and Sherry all stopped by during the weekend, too. Everybody loves to meet and hold a baby. The weather was sunny and pleasant on Saturday, so Melissa and I strolled Will to the park, his first experience with that kind of setting. He is so fascinated by everything around him--that is, when he isn't focused on gnawing away at whatever he can get to his mouth. We also went to the cemetery where Melissa, Mark, and Will placed three red roses in the vase at Ed's marker.

Sunday was the big day for visitors. Will was very good in church but would not go to sleep afterwards. David, Sadie and Grayton arrived around 2:30, and Debbie, Tom and Annie shortly thereafter. As tired as he was, Will just wouldn't miss out on seeing new people and settled right into being passed around the various laps. Starting at 4:00 everyone else arrived--Becky and family, Ed and his two sons, grandson Rob and his fiance Colleen, and Judi. It was such a beautiful afternoon that I grilled some marinated chicken tenders to go with the rest of the spread. It was so good for my soul to have Melissa, Mark, and the baby here, get this meal together, and see everyone enjoying the food and conversation. This was the first time we were all together in this house since Ed's funeral. I've wanted everybody together here for so long and I knew Ed would want that. Having space to have everyone together was the primary reason we chose this house. So even though it probably sounds a little selfish--especially because I know it was hard for a few people to be here without Ed--I'm very glad it finally happened after so long.

Monday morning we went back to the cemetery; the roses were open and beautiful. I knew seeing Ed's marker and gravesite would be emotional for Melissa, but I'm grateful that she wanted to go visit the grave. I go often and my neighbor Bill has said he visits there occasionally, but I don't know if anyone else does. After that visit, M & M and Will left for home. It took a little longer to get back because Will was not a happy traveler this time, but Melissa reported that once he was free to roll all over the place on the floor at home, he was happy and even got up on all fours. He was showing signs here that he is getting ready to crawl--he "scooched" a little getting after some toys (is that how you spell that word?).

I told the support group last night that I had a really good week since last Wednesday. I thought having an empty house again would affect me immediately on Monday, and it did, but not as much as I anticipated. Perhaps it was because Monday evening I had a nutrition workshop to go to and knew I would see friends from the group there. After the workshop, three of us had one of those enjoyable parking-lot conversations that wanders all over the place--any excuse to be out in the pleasant night air for a bit with friendly people. Tuesday I picked up the tax returns, and even that didn't dampen my mood since the results weren't too bad. But now here I am, up since 4 a.m. and crying. I don't remember having a dream that triggered this, so I guess I haven't kicked that feeling-lonely and trouble-sleeping thing yet.