Dear Journal~

Louisiana Sandusky wriitng.  I hope this finds y'all well and happy (or reasonably so).  I am very blessed; I am blessed every day by my loving Abba-Father in Heaven.

I have been busy working (am at work now, in fact).  Just went on break; have an hour to kill before I get back on the clock and finish my shift, off at seven tonight, whoo-hooo!  LOL  

Always busy raising my village.  Never ending job.  Also having to answer past-due e-mails and keeping up with helping families connect to different adoption agencies.  Add to that, doing laundry, cooking, providing medical care to my kids ... *Sigh* A mother's work is never done.

But I wouldn't trade it for all the gold in the world!  I love my life.  I pray that continues ...

There may be another wedding in a year or so: my son Johnathon and his girlfriend, Rebekka (for years, I spelled it like Rebekkah; her name does NOT have an 'H' at the end! LOL), have been talking about getting married for the past several months.  While I am very excited for them both, I would prefer that they wait until they are at least twenty, but then again, Johnny might not be around then.  If they want to get married, let them.  If this is what he wants ...

The fact that Johnny's lived this long is nothing but a miracle; I praise and give God thanksgiving for every day that Johnny has lived.  Doctors didn't think he'd live past the ege of five; he just turned eighteen last month ...

Johnny remains busy with college and enjoying his life.  He is a very blessed young man.  ALL of my children are.

I know one thing: I am missing the ones who are no longer living with us here at home: Porter.  Barbara.  Richard.  Ronee'.  Lightning.  Melizza.  Dwerlina and Lightning and their families.  Anh and his wife, Thu.  Deborah.  Starlight.  Summer Song.  So many, and yet this mama misses them more and more every day. 

It was good to see them here for Christmas.  New faces to meet (Deborah has a boyfriend, Amir, and Star, Summer, and Richard are all married.  They got married last year).  Summer's husband is named Morgan.  Very sweet young man.  Richard's wife is named Karrie.  And Star's husband is named Ethan.  So there may very well be more grandchildren in the future; I already have nine now.  And maybe even great grandchildren, if God sees to it ...

The very thought of it makes me cry:  seems like it was only yesterday when I was wiping runny noses or changing dirty diapers ... how my kids have grown!!

Ronee' has settled in at her dorm at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in Lafayette, Louisiana (when I went to school).  Back then, it was then called University of Southwestern Louisiana, or USL.  She is very busy with her classes; she loves school, and she loves her roommate, Britnee Rowlett, who is a very sweet (but troubled) young lady.  I have been praying for Brittnee, and I have been praying to God to keep Ronee' safe and well grounded.

Ronee' is very happy.  I am happy too, but I think of her, and I cry: Ronee' and I have always had an extremely close relationship, ever since she was really small.  She is my baby.  Well, ALL my children are my babies; I can't just single out one!  LOL  But I'm afraid I have, with Ronee' ...

Bill is doing pretty well, but his arthritis continues to give him fits.  He's always in pain; it hurts me to see him suffering.  I have it in my knees, hips, and feet, and am using a cane again.  Grateful that my back has not been bothered me since the last surgery.  I can function like a normal human being and actually get out and do things!  And no pain like before!  (Thank you, God.)

Papere' (my daddy) is using an electric scooter to get around; his walking days are over.  He will be ninety years old in four years.  He doesn't get around nearly as well as he used to, but his mind and wit are still as sharp as ever.  His wife, Therese, is doing quite well since her knee surgery last year, and she loves going to play bingo every week at the senior center.  She is happy too.

We did have some sad news:  my friend's daughter, Susie Jackson-Callaway, continues to languish in a vegetative state since suffering a stroke last summer; there's no guarantee whether she will ever get her old life back.  She is engaged, I've come to find out, and that pleases me, but I hope her husband to be can deal with such devastating disability ... as you can imagine, Audrey, her mama, is as pleased as punch! with the engagement, but not the turn of events in Susie's health.

Our Great Dane, "Marmaduke", died back in November, right after Thanksgiving.  He was in his teens (human years; in dog years, he was probably 90 or better).  He didn't suffer.  He died in his sleep.  We miss him terribly. 

We also no longer have "Cajun," our Maine Coon cat: she went with Ronee', her owner; she's since settled in her new home, but it doesn't make me stop missing her any less.  She was such a sweetheart!

Well, I hate to go, but it's time for me to get back to work.  They need me in the Emergency Room.  I will write in here again.  

Until later, this is Louisiana Sandusky saying so long! May God bless you as much as He's been blessing me as of late!

~Love, your friend in Tennseee, Louisiana May.  :)