It has been a while since I have had a chance to post. There have many good and some not good events take place in the meanwhile. My parents coordinated celebration of life just in time for my birthday in Baton Rouge. So, while I turned 36, I was able to visit with over probably 200 friends, family, coworkers, classmates and the like. All in all, it turned out to be an amazing event. We were blessed by a friend of my parents who was able to line up a private-chartered flight from McKinney to Baton Rouge. The kids were very excited about the opportunity to fly on their own plane. Kerri was nervous about the flight, but, fought through it like a trooper. When we got into town it was straight off to the medical races as usual. We spent a good bit of Thursday, my birthday, preparing for a transfusion at the Baton Rouge General on Friday. The transfusion itself was scheduled to take much longer Friday than it really took thanks to the efforts of several folks.
Saturday morning started earlier than I had hoped it would as I was unable to sleep well. So, I got up early and tried to help out as dozens of friends, both my own and my parents, were there early to set things up. Wallace and my dad got the jambalaya off and running while Mr. Eddie and Mrs.Jeannie LeBlanc helped set things up around the house. Also, some of my mom's friends were helping out, spreading things around and being awesome as well. Unfortunately my memory is not working so well these days, otherwise, I would call each of you name for all you did. Friday night, as we left the hospital, it was unseasonably cold as light winter weather slipped into town. Saturday morning had a cool overcast cloud cover rest gently over town. I was nervous it was going to be too cold for folks to make, but, many rightly reassured me it was just early morning cloud blanketing town. Thankfully, they were right. By 10am the clouds dissipated and we were able to get on with the events.
The official kick off was 11am, however, from the rhythm of things, no one would have been able to tell any different about 10am. Things were in full motion. The bounce house was up, family was in from out of town, the music was going and jambalaya was flowing right away. In short, it was on. Early on family from New Orleans and the north shore were visiting. High school and even middle school friends, along with their families, both old and new. It is always exciting to see how others are growing up as well. We have our three, Page (8), Emma (7) and Liam (5), but, it is funny to see a few teenagers amongst the crowds, and, going on down through the ranks. In fact, one of my friends from middle/high school, had her son at the party. He's already at Catholic High. Very cool to see the cycle close up.
As the day wore on more and more folks came. I couldn't really keep up with all the faces, but, did enjoy the conversations. I wish my memory were working better so I could recall some of the names and faces. At any rates, we did see a lot of folks from our various communities as well: church, family, school, sports, et cetera. Towards the end of the day we had to slow down some. My body could not keep the pace, although, for the most part, I kept up very well with energy and pace of the party so far! I found myself sitting and resting a good bit more. It had been a long day after all. With the sun setting we moved into a tent and put our feet up around a makeshift campfire. It afforded me the chance to catch up with a few folks I rarely get to talk. That was nice.
On Sunday morning Kerri and I escaped to church by ourselves as the kids elected to go to Nonna's (my mom's Catholic) church. We went and found ourselves unintentionally at the middle of a large prayer circle at Life Point. We were deeply at how God moved in the service and touched us through the hands, prayers and
praise of a large portion of the congregation. Again, later that evening, I was able to receive deep, refreshing prayer yet again through the ministry of one of the Messianic congregation's ministers. It was a real honor to be such a part of healing, prayer and a deeply, spiritual time over the weekend as well.
As we said our goodbyes Monday morning we flew back from Baton Rouge before another chartered flight back to McKinney concluded our events for the weekend. The kids were ready to head back home after such a busy weekend. For all the fun we had, they were ready to sleep in their own beds, as were mom and dad. Nonetheless, we all want to say thank you, from the depths of our hearts, to all the people who were involved in making my 36th birthday the most memorable birthday of my life. While others settled back into the pace of the regular, weekly routines, it truly was amazing to realize how much I have touched the lives of others. Thank you God for letting me see who all I have connected with; the blessing was all mine.I only wish that sort of blessing on others as well.
Saturday morning started earlier than I had hoped it would as I was unable to sleep well. So, I got up early and tried to help out as dozens of friends, both my own and my parents, were there early to set things up. Wallace and my dad got the jambalaya off and running while Mr. Eddie and Mrs.Jeannie LeBlanc helped set things up around the house. Also, some of my mom's friends were helping out, spreading things around and being awesome as well. Unfortunately my memory is not working so well these days, otherwise, I would call each of you name for all you did. Friday night, as we left the hospital, it was unseasonably cold as light winter weather slipped into town. Saturday morning had a cool overcast cloud cover rest gently over town. I was nervous it was going to be too cold for folks to make, but, many rightly reassured me it was just early morning cloud blanketing town. Thankfully, they were right. By 10am the clouds dissipated and we were able to get on with the events.
The official kick off was 11am, however, from the rhythm of things, no one would have been able to tell any different about 10am. Things were in full motion. The bounce house was up, family was in from out of town, the music was going and jambalaya was flowing right away. In short, it was on. Early on family from New Orleans and the north shore were visiting. High school and even middle school friends, along with their families, both old and new. It is always exciting to see how others are growing up as well. We have our three, Page (8), Emma (7) and Liam (5), but, it is funny to see a few teenagers amongst the crowds, and, going on down through the ranks. In fact, one of my friends from middle/high school, had her son at the party. He's already at Catholic High. Very cool to see the cycle close up.
As the day wore on more and more folks came. I couldn't really keep up with all the faces, but, did enjoy the conversations. I wish my memory were working better so I could recall some of the names and faces. At any rates, we did see a lot of folks from our various communities as well: church, family, school, sports, et cetera. Towards the end of the day we had to slow down some. My body could not keep the pace, although, for the most part, I kept up very well with energy and pace of the party so far! I found myself sitting and resting a good bit more. It had been a long day after all. With the sun setting we moved into a tent and put our feet up around a makeshift campfire. It afforded me the chance to catch up with a few folks I rarely get to talk. That was nice.
On Sunday morning Kerri and I escaped to church by ourselves as the kids elected to go to Nonna's (my mom's Catholic) church. We went and found ourselves unintentionally at the middle of a large prayer circle at Life Point. We were deeply at how God moved in the service and touched us through the hands, prayers and
praise of a large portion of the congregation. Again, later that evening, I was able to receive deep, refreshing prayer yet again through the ministry of one of the Messianic congregation's ministers. It was a real honor to be such a part of healing, prayer and a deeply, spiritual time over the weekend as well.
As we said our goodbyes Monday morning we flew back from Baton Rouge before another chartered flight back to McKinney concluded our events for the weekend. The kids were ready to head back home after such a busy weekend. For all the fun we had, they were ready to sleep in their own beds, as were mom and dad. Nonetheless, we all want to say thank you, from the depths of our hearts, to all the people who were involved in making my 36th birthday the most memorable birthday of my life. While others settled back into the pace of the regular, weekly routines, it truly was amazing to realize how much I have touched the lives of others. Thank you God for letting me see who all I have connected with; the blessing was all mine.I only wish that sort of blessing on others as well.
I can say that was day was one of the highlights of my year.
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