I spent the morning cleaning out the box which held my wedding stuff, my children\u2019s First Communion regalia, and other family mementos and transferring them to the inherited trunk.\u00a0 After a short while, the children began to congregate in my room and watch as I sorted through our family\u2019s history.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t long before they began to look through our treasures on their own.<\/p>\n
My 6 year old (girl) found my parents\u2019 wedding album.\u00a0 It had passed on to me when they were divorced 14 years ago and neither one wanted it.\u00a0 I was a new bride then, and wrapped it up in tissue paper and put it away next to my own wedding gown.\u00a0 I had forgotten that it was in the box until it was unwrapped by my own romantic daughter.<\/p>\n
#4 grabbed up her discovery and clambered up onto my bed where #3 (age 9) joined her.\u00a0 They looked with curiosity at the pictures of relatives long dead, and young faces which have grown old.\u00a0 I listened to them only peripherally until they suddenly grew silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that the man who\u2019s supposed to be our grandpa?\u201d my sweet daughter asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think so,\u201d her brother answered her, \u201conly he doesn\u2019t want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t he love us?\u201d Puzzled the child who is loved by everyone who has ever met her.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t?\u00a0 How do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
My son thought for a moment, now with my full attention. \u201cHave you ever met him?\u201d He asked her softly. \u00a0 \u201cHave you ever seen him?\u00a0\u00a0 Love means being there.\u00a0 It\u2019s being there, and where is he?\u00a0 That\u2019s how I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s right.\u00a0 Love means being there.\u00a0 It means you never stop trying, never stop reaching out, never stop hoping.<\/p>\n
Dad, they miss you, even if it is only the idea of you.\u00a0 I pray someday there will come a time when you miss them, too.\u00a0 We love you.\u00a0\u00a0 How do you know?\u00a0 We\u2019re still here.\u00a0 Waiting\u2026.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I spent the morning cleaning out the box which held my wedding stuff, my children\u2019s First Communion regalia, and other family mementos and transferring them to the inherited trunk.\u00a0 After a short while, the children began to congregate in my room and watch as I sorted through our family\u2019s history.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t long before they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n