Ten years ago today, about this time, my family was at church, likely listening to the sermon by Pete Prange (10:22 a.m.) Before Sunday school began, which was at 9:00 a.m., Timmy would have given Pastor the pretty picture he painted the night before (lots of P’s in that sentence!). He painted one for me and one for Pastor, announcing he would give it to him at church. I have a photo copy of that painting in my dresser drawer; saw it yesterday when Justin was looking for my headphones. Several years ago I had the picture framed for Pete and it hangs in his office in Morton Grove.
Yes, it is sort of ‘fun’, though that’s not the right word, trying to retrace every step of that dreadful night when Timmy died, but that gets one very very close to dangerous territory of doing the ‘what if’s’ and ‘if only’s’. We do not want to go there, it is of no value and battles against our knowledge that nothing takes place out of God’s handling. Many blessings have occurred in our lives and the lives of others since this happened to us. I say it happened to ‘us’ rather than Timmy because it is our loss that we mourn, we do not mourn Timmy’s gain. He shared the Good News faster than I did, and in a different manner in 5 years than I have in my 55. Psalm 31 says it so well, ‘my times are in your hands’. Sometimes I am broken pottery, as is the Psalmist, but the Lord promises to be the glue to hold me together.
One thing I am so glad about is that my friend, Frank, made DVD copies of the funeral service for me, as I no longer have a working VHS player. I believe the ‘old’ TV in the back bedroom does have a working player so if I really need to play something on VHS, I will have to sit in there on the old desk chair to watch it! That particular TV is too heavy to carry (except when Justin and Mark carried it from my bedroom up to the game room about 10 years ago…..) into this room or any other room. Frank re-did the funeral video as well as Lisa’s wedding for me. There is a business down the street from me who does conversion of VHS to DVD and while it does cost a moderate amount, it is less costly, I think, than buying the machinery and then doing it myself. What happens to the machine after all the tapes are converted? Craigslist, I guess. There is no cable in that back bedroom so I cannot record anything, only play back.
Overnight the temps fell to the low 20’s but are expected to climb back up to the mid-50’s today. By next Tuesday, we will have highs around 70 again---yay!!! I love the 70’s, but truth be told, the 80’s would be better yet! As I recall, on the day of Timmy’s funeral service, his 5th birthday, the weather was lovely for January but the next day was horrid, windy and nasty. We were so blessed with good weather that week, all who traveled from distances arrived and departed safely and on time, with Rosalie often being the transportation from and to the airport. She has called me already this a.m. and sent several Facebook comments. I love it, love her, love my family and friends, and miss my boy like crazy!
