What would tomorrow bring if life could be the way we want it. First, Mari would be here. She would never have gotten sick to begin with. She would have stayed perfectly healthy. She would be laughing, and playing, and simply being Mari. She would watch one of her favorite shows or one of her favorite movies and then start to flap her arms in excitement because she is just so darn excited she doesn’t know what to do with herself. She would still be here to let us know when she is hungry … [Read more...]
The holidays…
Everyone talks about how the holidays are so hard that first year. I can honestly say that you just do not even look forward to them what so ever. Thanksgiving is literally right around the corner; only three days away. When I think of Thanksgiving I always think about how you are supposed to be thankful for what has happened in your life in the last year. I am sure there are things that I should be thankful for in the last year but they are so overshadowed by the obvious. How can I be … [Read more...]
Army Drill Team
I thought it would be neat to share this with everyone. There are not a lot of things that put a smile on my face here recently but I thought this was pretty neat. I wanted to share it with everyone so you can all enjoy it as much as I did in person. I hope you enjoy. I took the video while we were at Keith's annual training conference last weekend. Please post your comments and tell me what you think. Also, towards the very beginning there is a small 2 to 3 second section where the sound … [Read more...]
True Friendship
It amazes me how you find out who your true friends really are. While she was in the hospital we asked people to pray for Mari to get better. And from there it became a snowball effect. We had people praying for her and us all across the country. I would not be surprised at all if there were over a half a million people who were praying for Mari and Keith and I during this time. When Mari died there were tons of people who were there to support Keith and me. Anyone from family, to close … [Read more...]
Keith’s Retirement
I posted the other day what I would like to call a film script. Typically when you think of a film script you think of a movie on the big screen or a made for TV movie. That is not what this is. What I mean by a film script is something that give you purpose, something that motivates you to do something important in your own live, I call it my "why". I made this film script of Keith's retirement from the Army. As you will read, this was written a couple of years ago. This was the dream that I … [Read more...]
Friendship at its best
I have a dear friend that I used to work with that I had not talked to in several months who recently just find out about what happened with Mari. I have truly missed talking to her. We both have our own lives and we had both become so busy with our own lives that we didn’t talk like we used to. I sent her an email the other day telling her among many others that I know that I had created this website in dedication to Mari. When she found out she decided to call me right away but you could … [Read more...]
Mari’s World – Can You Just Imagine
Today is a day without our baby girl. It seems like just yesterday that she went to be in heaven. It seem like I just said good bye. I remember that last day with longing before she went to the doctor. I felt so inconvenienced when the school called to tell me that she had a diarrhea. I felt they were making a big deal out of nothing. Who would have ever thought that what seemed like a day of inconvenience at the time would be a day I would take back in a heartbeat. Who would ever have thought … [Read more...]
Memories…
The Memories, they run so deep. They are so dear. What would we do in this life if we didn’t have the memories of those that we loved and then lost. I think we would be lost. There would be this black hole that would just suck us in. But then again, if we didn’t have memories, there would nothing to be missed. We would never understand or know what we were missing. The memories we have are so bitter sweet. We know that without the memories it might be easier. We know without the memories we … [Read more...]
Mommy’s Dream
I once had a dream I had written down about Mari, my beloved little angel. I wrote this as a movie clip of what I envision Mari's Wedding Day could one day be like. No, she was not like a typical child and this dream probably would never have come true but I knew that one day the home business I had would be able to help me at least give Mari all the best care and education I could. We all know that Mari's time was cut extremely short but here is the dream I had for my little angel... We are … [Read more...]
I Will Always Remember Mari…
I will always remember Mari’s method of transportation… running. I will always remember Mari’s laughter, trust, and innocence. I will always remember Mari’s favorite foods. In the context of the 23d Psalm, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,” I picture death saying: Who is that running through my valley? She is supposed to walk! And why is she laughing? She is supposed to be in fear!! What magic marker? Where did she get a magic … [Read more...]
