Hey!  The "Goonster" here.   Hope this finds y'all well (or reasonably so).  I am doing good:  right in the middle of Easter break; we don't go back to school until Monday (five more days --  okay, actually three, since I don't count the weekend).  Having a great time sleeping in and doing basically what I want, when I want.

I am getting ready to go to Alabama:  we leave tomorrow.  We are going to see my best bud, Shawn, and get to meet his family!  I am so excited at the prospect of seeing Shawn again; I have missed him so much!  Plus I am ready to leave this cold weather behind; it may say it's spring on the calendar, but it feels a lot more like January (plus there's still snow on the ground here).  No green leaves or flowers to be seen; everything is still so desolate and dead!

My mom and pop as well as myself are going to go to Alabama.  My brothers Eden and Marcus are coming along with us; my littlest brothers (Icarus and Joshiah) and my sister Dyamond are staying behind; grandma is going to take care of them while we go to Alabama (plus Joshiah's health is too unstable to be able to travel longer distances).  It will be a nice break to get away from the babies (as I call the littlest members of my family, 'cause, in reality, they are!!).  Grandma is a nurse, so she knows how to take care of Joshiah's tube feedings and his other needs; she can help him if any problems arise (I hope they don't!).

Joshiah is in a wheelchair and can't walk or talk; he has a disease called cerebralspinabellar ataxia, or something like that (CSBA for short).  It's not very common, but eventually those kids who have it end up helpless and unable to do anything for themselves.  It's a terrible thing to have to watch your little brother suffer --  and knowing there isn't a godblamed thing you can do about it to help him!

Icarus can be a handful as well:  he is autistic and can get pretty loud or go into his "stimming periods", where he will flap his hands in front of his face, rock back and forth, or scream at will.  It's really a pain when he acts up like this; people stare at him, and then they pepper me with embarrassing questions.  I don't like taking Icarus anywhere with me anymore than I do Joshiah!  I'm always so glad when I can get away from them!  I love my brothers, but I don't like the fact that they have some serious special needs!

Anyway, mom, pop, and I are looking forward to going to Alabama to see Shawn and his family.  It will be great to see Shawn as well as his sisters Quaneesha and Q'urionka; they are back together, and all is well there in that family.  He deserves to be happy:  he has had a rough life (as have I, but nothing compared to Shawn!).

We will probably go to church on Sunday for Resurrection Sunday services; afterwards, we will probably have the little kids go hunt for Easter eggs; we do that every year; the kids love it!  I enjoy watching them have fun; I'm a little too old for that kind of stuff!

I like biting the heads off their chocolate bunnies before they can get to 'em, though.  Mean, I know, but they drive me crazy; it's my turn come holidays like Easter!  LOL  Payback is hell, as they say.  LOL

Of course, Joshie doesn't really care; he's more or less zoned out in his own little world.  He'd rather watch lint dance on the ceiling, sit in his wheelchair, or drool than to worry about whether his big brother is going to sneak one of his bunnies and bite its head off!  And Icarus is another one who goes to la-la land a lot; it doesn't really faze him either when I attack his bunny.  LOL 

Boy, the other two (Eden and Marcus) do, though!  WOW!  And I am sure Dyamond will cry when I get her bunny before she can.  LOL  (Mom and pop did give me an ultimatum, though, about this:  if I do this, I will be grounded until next Easter.  LOL)

Well, I am going to go:  Tubby, my neighbor across the street, wants me to go with him to get groceries; he doesn't like walking the streets by himself.  Can't say I blame him.  I will keep him company.  Until later, this is Goon saying so long; I will write again when I get back from Alabama!  Pray we have a safe trip, and pray we have a good time.  And above all, pray that Joshiah doesn't get sick; he's been rather congested the past few mornings!  I'd greatly appreciate it!

God bless and take care!

~Goon.

*to be continued.*