New to Me Pictures

Annette has many people who knew and loved her. She was very happy to be a part of an on-line community of equally dedicated parents to children with Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome). She loved to "chat" with them, so much so that she and Tom occasionally traveled to meet some of them IRL (in real life).

I am fortunate enough to have been welcomed in her place in their community. I also like to "chat" with them. I have met 2 IRL (at Annette's funeral). Many of her friends have posted pictures of her on their blogs. Pictures I had never seen before. One day, I got to thinking that I would love to have these pictures for myself. So I asked the girls. And they came through. They emailed me all the pictures they had from meeting Annette IRL. What a gift that is to me. Unfortunately, I really don't have a whole lot of pictures of her, me or us through the years. Something I try to compensate more for now. (Take those pictures!!)

Thanks, ladies, for such special pictures!

A New Year

Happy New Year! I know, only 20 days late. Where does the time go?
We had a wonderful holiday and are now (somewhat reluctantly) settling back into our regular routine.

So many times I think, "I need to comment about this on the blog". But it never seems to get done. Life is busy.

Admist all our busyness, we feel great sorrow for our global neighbours in Haiti. The death and destruction seems unfathomable. We hear the cry of anguish. We see the images. We imagine the pain (or we can't imagine). We raise money and awareness with our children. We try to teach our children compassion. We are helpless. But we are not hopeless.