My Children

I wonder sometimes how I could be so blessed as I am with my 3 children. All three have become productive, responsible adults. I often think of how different they are and yet how much of their dad and I is reflected in all of them.

There are a few characteristics that they all have that immediately makes me think of Stephen. The first is that they love movies--and oh how their dad loved a good movie. They like the kinds of movies he watched--not particularly the ones I like. "Star Wars", "Lord of the Rings" are a few that come to mind. I remember many times they would all be with dad watching the movies that mostly sent me to another part of the house. All of them can become so mesmerized by what they are watching that I can't get their attention. If I call and they seem distracted it is usually because they are watching something on TV. Their dad was great at zoning into a movie and blocking out anything else. I think I will have several grandchildren that way also.

I am not sure about Aaron but Kadee and Steph love their nap times. Their dad was a great napper. In fact, I would always make them wake dad up when they were around because he was much sweeter to them if he had to get up.

All of my children have a love for reading. Again, they were drawn more to what Stephen liked: Classics and for Aaron the "Wheel of Time" series and the "Master Commander" books. In the last days of Stephen's life he was reading "Master Commander" and Aaron was a ways behind him in that series. We had bought used books but as Stephen got into the later books it was harder to find them. So, Stephen decided to order the whole series in one big book. He died with less than 100 pages left to read. That book was in his hospital room. I gave it to Aaron. At first he decided to only read to where Stephen stopped. But one day he called and said he wanted to finish the book because he thought that is what his dad would want him to do. I agreed and he finished it.

Here is a brief summary of my children:

Kadee--my oldest by 1 minute, is currently living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is a Pastor at Vancouver Nazarene. She married Matt in 2001. They met while attending Jerusalem University in Israel. Matt is a Youth Pastor and he also works at a mission for the homeless. They have blessed me with 3 beautiful grandsons: Isaac-6, Finnian-4 and Ephraim-8 weeks old.

Steph--my middle child is currently living in Nampa, Idaho. She is an elementary music teacher. She married Chris in 2001. The met at Northwest Nazarene University. Chris is in the final stage of student teaching, is a Youth Pastor at Meridian Friends Church, and transports people who have died to the mortuary. They have blessed me with 3 beautiful grandchildren: Kadee Joy-5, Andrew-4 and Jeffrey-2.

Aaron--my youngest is currently living in Monterey, California. He is a Senior Research Psychologist working for the Department of Defense (Air Force). I hope that's the correct description. He married Dina in 2006. Currently, she is working in Long Beach, California as a clinical psychologist. She will be changing to Palo Alto, California this fall. So, they have temporarily been living apart but trying to meet as much as they can on weekends. They hope to buy a home next fall somewhere between the two cities. I am hoping they may add some more grandchildren to the family.

I believe it was the love Stephen and I had and showed to each other that blessed our children and encouraged them to be all that they could be. Their lives aren't perfect, nobody's life is, but they all have become independent, responsible adults. I am immensely proud of each of them. I love them so much.

I think the most important gifts parents can give their children is to love each other, work through the rough times, be a team, and guide them to become independent, productive citizens. Unfortunately, that might mean they all live more than a few hours away from you, but Stephen and I always wanted our kids to follow their dreams and achieve their goals. I believe they have.

I still find my grief comes out sometimes when I spend time with my kids. There is still a part of me that is sad their dad isn't seeing all they have accomplished. I see my grandchildren and ache to share the joy they are with him. But I know he would be as proud as I am and up there somewhere in heaven he is looking down and smiling.