Tarrytown, New York, April 2012~
Thought an update was in order, so here goes ....
This is Gilda Figaronelli writing. I am sorry for not writing in several years (last wrote in 2008, four years ago!!), but life has a way of getting past you when one least expects it to. Forgive me??
I hope and pray this finds you all well. As for us, we are trying to stay warm. It is snowing to beat the band here: am expecting anywhere from 6" to over a FOOT of snow!! We are currently under winter storm/blizzard warnings; the police are advising people to stay off the road, it's that treacherous here.
Doubt there will even be school for the rest of this week; we're quickly becoming snowed in. It looks (and feels) much more like December than the latter part of April! Thought we were done with all this winter crap; guess I was wrong ...
Good thing Vincente is off work today. He's my husband. He is outside with Vinnie, Graciela, and Brooklyn (ages 17, 13, and 11 respectively); they are shoveling the walk, but I see it as a fruitless effort because the snow continues to pile up; but Vincente has always been a firm believer in that old adage, "Shovel with the storm". So there you go. I will have to make some extra hot chocolate for them when they are through ... that is, IF they ever GET through ...
Meanwhile, Kayla (20) is playing Mad Libs with Harlen (15) and Philomena (7; she's our youngest) is sitting beside me in her wheelchair, snoozing softly. She looks so cute! I would take her picture, but she might get annoyed if she found out about it. LOL I can't help it: she looks so precious when she sleeps; heck, all of my babies do! :)
Tomorrow, if it stops snowing, and if there is no school, the older kids will be outside, but Philly and Kayla will be inside, as will Harlen. Yet the snow won't stop Brookie or Gracie or Vincente from enjoying themselves; it's almost like having Christmas vacation all over again (but without the lights and decorations). It will also mean more work on getting our driveway cleared because tomorrow afternoon Kayla has an appointment with her pediatric heart doctor, to see how her heart has been doing since her last heart surgery. I hope she has a good outcome; I'm praying she does!
Vincente got laid off from his previous job, but thank the Lord he found a new one. He now works at a shoe store not far from where we live. It doesn't pay nearly as much money as his last job, but I'm thankful he's working again. So is he. It was pretty rough for the six months he was on unemployment, but if it were not for the checks, we would have probably ended up on the streets. We were able to keep up with the bills; I consider that a major God-given miracle!
We are in the process of adding a new little girl to our family. She is from China, and her name is going to be Heaven Joy. Heaven Joy is three years old. She has special needs too: she has Down syndrome and is as cute as a bug. We have her picture along with the rest of our own and the kids have already taken to calling her their little sister. They love her and can't wait until she joins us. We can't either; the agency said that she could be here in America anytime from a period of three to six months (give or take a few).
I know Philo will be overjoyed; she really has nobody her age to hang out with (and it's hard because she is on a ventilator to breathe and requires care 24 hours a day due to her severe disabilities; still, despite it all, she's a great kid). I have told her about Heaven Joy and she will sit there in her chair, wriggling with excitement, so she knows something big is about to happen ... something GOOD.
Well, Vincente and the girls have come back in, their faces bright red from the cold. I guess they have had enough; they all look pretty spent. I will have to get that hot chocolate ready. I will write in here again soon; until then, this is Gilda Figaronelli saying so long; may God bless you as much as He's blessed us these past several years!
~Love, your friend in New York, Gilda Maria. :)
