Tomorrow is July 14.  15 years.  That's how long it has been since my dad passed away.  Cancer.  I hate that word more now than I did then.  Has it really been that long?  So much has happened.  So much has changed.  So much has been learned.

Certain dates, like July 14, bring about many emotions and thoughts.  Wonderful memories.  The nurse was right.  The memories of Dad's last days have faded somewhat compared to all the other memories we have with him.  That of course is a good thing.  Memories of my mother-in-laws struggle are still quite raw.  I'm glad I don't often think of my dad's struggles any more.  Instead, I remember trips to the dump which sometimes ended with lunch at McDonald's or occasionally a stop at a convenience store for corn-nuts.  I remember how he totally freaked me out by catching a tarantula in a match box once when we were driving through the canyon.  He put the matchbox in the trunk, and I just knew that it was going to crawl out and somehow get through the seats and crawl on me.  Needless to say, I was not sad to see the thing drown after an overnight rain storm a few days later.

What might we have learned from him had he lived to watch us raise his grandchildren?  My sister, K, posed this question when we got together for my birthday dinner last month.  I know we could have learned so much more from him, but it was not to be.  The Lord had other plans for him.

Life is all about change, sometimes easy, sometimes hard.  Challenges.  That's a word I try not to hate.  Challenges are part of the Lord's plan for us on this earth.  A way for us to learn and grow.  We can't just stay in one place forever, in more than one way.  This leads me to my next subject:  moving.  We are waiting, with baited breath, to close on our first home!  We have never had the opportunity to buy our own home before, since a house has been provided with C's last two jobs.  I hope that July 14, 2014 brings us a good memory.  A memory of signing our closing papers on our new home.  We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Goal update:  I have indexed 1100 names and have 1900 left to do before Dec 31, 2014.
       Sadly, I have not done so well with our family scrapbooks.  I have finished one, but have not published it yet.  I did publish a family recipe book for C's niece that got married last month. But, it doesn't count towards my goal.