Just be there and listen between the lines. We have had two deaths in the last month at dd's school. Her first experience with loosing a friend happened when she was in the 6th grade. It really affected her. And just recently a close friend of her boyfriend was killed on a crochrocket. Head on into a car. She went to the funeral with alot of other kids. He had graduated last year.. He had told his parents if anything ever happened he wanted to be buried in his baseball uniform with all his buddies carring the casket. Alot of kids were there. it was dd's first funeral .. it totally tore her up to see his body lying there...and his mom was hysterical. She says life is short, you should always make time for your friends... and tell the people you love...that you do. She gave alot of her friends a hard time about not being there for each other... And no way should they try to make it though life without God. She is doing better itjust takes time.

This is hard because my garden is so many things for me. Beauty, certainly. The beauty it brings to our yard and house, and the beauty of individual plants, flowers and the creatures that visit. A place to be in touch with the natural world, definitely. A place to run away from the everyday world, absolutely! Order? Not at all! LOL. Give me chaos and randomness and surprises at every turn. I want my garden to make me laugh or gasp and it does both often. Sometimes it makes me cry but I can live with that. I love everything about sharing my garden with others: pictures, plants, stories, vision. I want it to inspire others as much as it inspires me and I've had the extreme pleasure of having neighbors start gardening because of what they've seen at my house. Walkers turn into the cul-de-sac just to see what's blooming. I love that. So I guess I have to include pride as one of the feelings I get from the garden. (oh oh, Seven Deadly Sins warning!) I love having a place where I can be creative, but once I've done my part it takes over and changes in ways I couldn't expect. And when it gets out of control, I also like knowing that with just a little work (or maybe a lot of work) I can start it all over and make it something new. Surprise, delight, beauty, pride... my garden makes me laugh. Kate

Thank you everyone. I was in Greenwich today and saw my SIL and her great kids. 2 weeks is a long time when you are so young, and the little one is getting much better holding his head up! Jo, I will definitely tell her about Center for Hope. I was also able to spend sometime with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin, (longtime Greenwich residents) and found out that their youngest daughter (who lives in LA) has just been diagnosed with Thyroid cancer. She has a 3 yr old and 5 mth old... When it rains it pours. All of your thoughts are so much appreciated. You may not know how muxch you touch me. Lyra, your comment especially gives me comfort. I thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and positive energy. As mine are with so many of you. Today has been a tough day, too. thank you for the support.

Oh how awful for that family. I hope he has been an involved father now that he will be the sole parent. Does he have other family around to help him? I think I can't even imagine my XH being in that position. He was fairly clueless about the kids lives.