Yesterdays...

You always want them back.

This past weekend was an emotional roller coaster for the whole family.

We kicked off the weekend by attending an estate sale....right in our back yard. Yup, after 2 + years, Saturday was the 2nd of 4 sales of the massive collection of stuff that grandma and grandpa Austin collected in a long, long life of collecting. As I stood watching their stuff disappear with strangers, I was hit with emotion I didn't expect. I (and the rest of the family) lost them once, this was like losing them all over again. I had my eye on a few things, and it seemed like everyone there knew what I wanted because I always got the bid. The hardest part of that day was watching the g'rents car drive away without them in it....I know their gone, doesn't mean I have to like it. I know that soon everything they owned will be either sold or thrown away, doesn't mean I have to love that idea. It's just so....final. And I was thinking....I will never burden my children with the task of sorting, sifting, throwing and watching everything get sold in the end. At the end of the day I, and everyone else, was exhausted.

Sunday, the eventual lazy day in the Young house, had us up and out of the house to attend a Court of Honor for Boy Scouts for a young man J coached in basketball 3rd thru 6th grades. I was warned ahead of time that J was going to receive an award and would I be ok accepting the award on his behalf. Umf. Gut reaction was no...no I'm not ok accepting an award on his behalf. Then a second went by, I gave myself a little LY pep talk and then I knew I could do it. And I did. Thank goodness I had back up with me and thank goodness they had the chance to hear the most wonderful, honest, sheer emotional speech I have ever heard about J. It took everything in me to get up from my seat, make my legs walk one foot in front of the other and form words when I received the Eagle Scout Mentor pin on J's behalf. I wish I could bottle that speech up and play it back over and over for the girls so they will never forget what kind of influence their dad had on someone not in our immediate family and friends circle. Had I known what kind of honor was being given, I would have invited J's mom and dad to attend just so they could hear what they already knew, what we all already knew....it was just nice to hear, after 2+ years, that J was the reason for this very special young man to achieve the goals he had for himself, to push himself to achieve them. I'm still very blown away by this. There are no words to describe how touched I was, the girls were, my mom and sister were.

See, it's true J, you did some good here....and you keep touching lives and doing good even from where ever you are. Truly amazing.

Deep thoughts from this side of the house this week. Thanks for checking in.

L