Remembering

There are a couple rumors floating around now that they are going to get through 3 or 4 days in the next batch. Since we are still at least 2 weeks from referrals arriving it is too early to believe anything but 2 or 3 days is pretty much what we are expecting since November 22nd is thought to be a big day based on online polls. It is hard to believe that Summer is almost over. Jen is going back to school next week and the weather seems to be getting cooler here in New England. We were hoping that the summer would go by fast as that would mean we are closer to going to get Grace but at the same time we are sad to see it go. The end of August also gets us a bit down for other reasons. Four years ago on August 18th we lost a close friend of mine, Randy. Randy died in a tragic accident at a local waterslide park. The night before the accident Randy and I attended a Steely Dan concert, I will never be able to listen to a Steely Dan song again without thinking of Randy. Randy and I were kind of an odd couple, he was about 15 years older than I was and quite a big guy, which I am not, but we really had a good time whatever we did. There is much I miss about Randy. I miss him calling me at 7:00am on a Saturday morning to go fishing. I miss our yearly weekend skiing trips up to Sunday River. I miss how Randy lived each day to the fullest, no matter what we were doing there was always a way to get more and and have more fun. I miss him calling me to go to a concert for some band that I have never heard of and having a great time just the same. I miss seeing the love he had for his daughter and wife and am sad that he never got to see me become a father. I am mostly sad that his daughter will not grow up truly knowing him and what a great guy he was. I know how hard that is as I lost my own father too soon (when I was 12) and oddly my father and Randy were the same age when they died. I can hope that just as Randy toasted Jen and I on our wedding day that "Heaven is giving you many many merry days".