Just yesterday before noon, we were experiencing some of the best weather that Columbia, MO has ever seen. It was in the 80s, a touch warmer than it has been in the entire state since summer began. And that occasion is extremely strange in itself, if you know anything about Missouri in the summertime. From mid-April through September, the temperature could be classified as Hot, Hotter, and Less Hot. Usually. Anyway, I was walking around campus, looking at all the freshman moving into the dorms with their parents, those concerned looks on all faces, and I thought, "This is where I need to be. No, this is where I want to be." Maybe I'm scared of what comes after this, I'm not sure. But I do know that I've found a place, where I'm wanted and even needed. Perhaps we're all just being selfish, needing a place in the world, but really needing affirmation from others in some fashion. I'd like to think I don't live for the approval of others, but it's great when you know that somebody else's world is brighter because of you. I know you understand.
Today, you’re 35. Or at least you would be, in this place. You probably know this, but we’re OK. Not great, but OK. We know you wouldn’t want us moping around and weeping all the time. We try not to. Actually, I guess part of the problem is that you didn’t know how much we loved you. And that you didn’t know how to love yourself. I hope you have gotten to Love by now. Not a place, but fills everything in every way. I’m not Him, but he probably said, “Dear daughter/sister, you have been terribly hard on yourself. Rest now, and be at peace.” Anyway, teaching is going well, and I tell the kids all about you. They all say you are pretty. I usually can keep the boys from saying something gross for a few seconds. Mom and I are going to the game tonight. And like 6 more times, before I go back to South Carolina. I have seen Nicky twice, but I myself haven’t seen your younger kids. Bob took pictures of the day we said goodbye, and we did a family picture at the Abbey. I literally almost a...
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