Sunny Days

Today  was sunny, very warm and a bit windy but a great day for a drive to Leavenworth for a belated birthday lunch with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. We had a delicious lunch on the deck at Visconti's. Sipping ice tea and just enjoying the beautiful day. After lunch we walked around checking out a few stores  before heading back home. I love getting together for lunch with my family. It makes each day a little brighter and takes my mind off the dark days of pain and sadness. The Lord always knows when I am in need of friends and family.

Another Suicide

Yesterday at church a friend stopped me and told me about a 22 year old young man who took his life over the weekend. My heart sinks once again and all I can think about is that poor family and what they are about to go through for the rest of their lives. The pain is sheer agony. I do not know the family but recognize the young mans name. He sang with our high school hitones at the funeral of another former student just a few short months ago. Anyone reading this PLEASE help me get the word out - suicide is not the answer. There is help. Matt's Last Call: Surving Our Protectors will be out very soon. As soon as I get the first shipment (this month) I will have some prelaunch parties and I will sell to anyone who would like one. I am passionate about the subject of suicide and I WILL save a life with the help of God. My goal is to sell 2500 copies hopefully by October when the bookstores launch Matt's Last Call. I am hoping to sell at least that many myself so the money I earn can help some other organizations with the suicide issue. Pray for all the families who have lost a child to suicide.

Summer Fun

Last week I attended the 60th reunion of the Wenatchee Youth Circus. When I was a kid I was in the circus. We had so much fun performing, traveling and becoming a real circus family - 80+ kids and our parents were chaperones when they could attend. I think my favorite place we went was Alpenrose Dailry in Portland, Oregon. We stayed for two weeks. After the afternoon shows we sometimes got to go swimming, we were in the Rose Parade, watch calves being born and just had a ton of fun. After the evening shows we had hootenanies and nightly banana splits with Alpenrose Ice Cream. Wow! It was so good. One of our circus members who was at the reunion surprised us with Alpenrose ice cream and all the fixings for banana splits after the show. Such great memories we shared  and the banana splits was a big hightlight of the night.  It was so great seeing my friends from those days and talking how we taught each other "our" acts for the new kids coming in as we left for college.  We always had church service on Sunday mornings with Guppo the Clown as our leader. He started the circus and is still going strong. I thank God for those very special years and for all those involved in it.

The Waiting Game is over

The waiting game is over. I received the first look of the layout for "Matt's Last Call: Surviving Our Protectors" yesterday. It is absoultely fantastic. Reality has hit and I know this book will touch a lot of people. Suicide is an ugly topic no one wants to talk about. However, we MUST talk about it, learn the warning signs and turn people's lives around. Hopefully "Matt's Last Call" will not only save someone but also save someone from the pain I live with daily on the death of my son. The Lord has been good to me. He is always by my side and keeps me strong.

The Waiting Game

I should have had the layout of Matt:s Last Call: Surviving our Protectors by last Saturday. The waiting game is so hard - I have to stay focused on God and remember that the design group only wants the best for me. I was told as soon as my designer receives it she will email it to me for my approval. At that point it will be bound and snail mailed to me for final approval. At that point ON to PRINTING! You all know I am more than ready. It is an exciting time and I am continuing to work on marketing and talking with people about my Matt's Last Call:Surviving our Protectors. I will keep you informed. Sorry I haven't been blogging much - we have had too much going on with retiring, end of school, parties and trying to get the yard looking nice. I hope everyone has a good and SAFE 4th or July!

The Last Day of School - forever

Today is the last day of school forever for my husband. What is he thinking? Excitement, time to catch up on sleep, no stress, wow, now what? Although he does have some plans there is always that fear of what if.....I am totally excited for him to retire. We can now do things that he missed out on because of school - like trips to Hawaii or seeing the grandkids in their sports, yard work - Ron loves to work in the yard, and for me he has offered to help me with marketing , Matt's Last Call: Surviving our Protectors.He is going to be my business manager which will be an enormous help. He will also help promote my book among his different groups of men he works with in our community. I'm hoping for a good long tour. All in all I am looking forward to having my husband home.

End of an Era

With the end of school approaching we find ourselves wondering what God has planned for us. Ron has 7 more days until retirement. Things we know: our last sport's awards and sad good-byes to our great tennis teams, multiple retirement parties to attend - Ron really deserves to be recognized for all the great things he has accomplished as a teacher and coach. He really doesn't like acknowledgements - wants the other guy to get all the recognition. However, after his first party and yesterdays recognition at school I think he kinda likes it. Don't tell him I said that! One thing we know for sure is Matt's Last Call: Surviving our Survivors will be launched in October. I still have to go over the layout when that is completed and ok everything so it can be printed. So, what are our plans? Probably a book tour but have no details at this point. All I know is I want it out there among ALL law enforcement, military/veterans, and anyone who is contemplating suicide or those who grieve due to a loved who who took his/her own life. Ron will definitely continue teaching tennis lessons and camps as well as Men's Ministry. He looks forward to having time to do his favorite things. For now, everything is in God's hands. May God bless each and every one of you.