What did you want to be?

Kids of every generation have always been asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Common answers from kids often include things like pro athlete, fireman, singers and actors. Later as we get into our late teen years, our answers begin to morph into more realistic answers. People might want to be teachers at this point, or lawyers, maybe even doctors. The dream of hitting a home run to win the World Series is gone for most of us at this point.

One answer that you will never hear when you ask the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” is corrections officer. I have worked at the prison for just over six years and have talked to many of my co-workers over that time and the subject always comes up. Not one of them has ever told me that the work we do is what they had planned for themselves. Corrections was always a fall back position or something that was taken on to pay the bills. I know that was the case for me. After my divorce, I realized that a person simply couldn't live on $11.10 per hour so I was forced to explore other options. I picked Corrections simply because of the money. Not because it was what I wanted to do. I loved writing for the newspaper. If I could have made a decent living there, I would have stayed. I don't know how my friends who have stayed there for all these years make it.

Prison guards as a whole are a much-maligned group of people. I've read in articles that we make too much money and that corruption runs rampant among guards. As far as the money issue goes, I don't believe that we are overpaid. How many places of employment ask you to go hang out with over 1500 convicted felons, many of whom are there for already having killed someone else?

As for the corruption comments that I've read, it's unfortunate, but there is at least some truth in that statement, as evidenced by the number of people fired every year for one offense or another. I don't believe it's rampant or out of control. I would wager that the percentage of bad apples is actually pretty low. And that sort of stuff doesn't just happen in corrections. You read about embezzlement cases every day from businesses that are not corrections. Even at the paper when I worked there, we had someone get fired and prosecuted for embezzlement. That doesn't make every person at the paper a criminal, but it does cast a poor light on the place as a whole. It works the same in corrections.

I have never witnessed any of the offenses that corrections officers can get fired for, I'd like to take a minute and share with you some things that I have personally seen from my co-workers.

I have seen off-duty prison guards stop and act as first responders when a car skidded off the road and rolled over into the ditch.

I have seen prison guards volunteer their time to coach hockey, basketball, football, and baseball and softball teams.

I have seen prison guards come together in the parking lot after work and push each other out a heavy snow had buried cars in the lot.

These are just the things that I have seen. There are also things that I have personally experienced that make me refuse to condemn corrections employees as so many publications, notably, the Detroit Free Press, have done.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, I tried to keep it quiet at first. I told a few select people at work and word spread quickly. I had lots of people approach me and ask if I was doing ok and that they were sorry to hear about what I was dealing with. I appreciated all of it.

There was a series of cook-ups done on our shift where people brought in food and everyone takes turns going up front to the break room to get a bite to eat. If you bring in food for the meal, you eat for free. If not, you have to pay $5 to take part. With the changes that have been made to food service out there, these cook-ups are a welcome event.

Two times since my diagnosis, I was the recipient of the money raised by the cook-ups. This money helped my and my wife so much with the constant trips to Petoskey that were happening at the time, as well as the seemingly endless miscellaneous expenses that always seem to be there.

In addition to the monetary gifts from my co-workers, they gave me time. By time, I mean hours. I was running really low on leave time when I got hit with this and that meant a lot of pay periods with no pay check. Like most people in this day and age, we are dangerously close to living paycheck to paycheck. The people I work with donated a total of 194 hours to me, which adds up to about a month and a week worth of time. I can't even tell you how much help that was to Kelly and I.

What makes it even more touching to me is that I know how valuable time is to corrections officers. There is nothing that we value more than time away from work. These hours also have cash value which makes the donations even more special.

I want to say thank-you to all my co-workers who helped me out. Whether it was by taking part in the cook-ups or donating hours, or simply taking a second to ask me how I was doing. I don't know that I'll ever be able to repay your generosity, but from Kelly and I, we appreciate you guys so much!

Corrections officers are not bad people. For every bad thing that you hear about us, please remember, that there are probably 10 good stories that simply don't get the publicity that the bad ones do.

I Will Win

Thank-you Wife

So, my wife and I have this deal. We don't say thank-you for things that we know the other enjoys doing. We know that the other would do the same for us, so saying thank-you kind of cheapens what the other did. It might not make sense to anyone else, and I'm probably not explaining it very well, but it works very well for us.

I'm going to break our deal though (just this once), because over the two weeks I was in the hospital, Kelly went way above and beyond what people should have to ask of each other.

We rented an apartment for the time we were there so that Kelly would have a place to sleep, shower, and eat meals. It seemed like a great idea at the time, but when she saw the room I was going to be in, she moved in. It had a couch which turned into a bed sort of like a camper couch can double as a bed. It couldn't have been comfortable, and it sat right in front of this big picture window. The window provided a nice view, but also was not very well insulated. The air next to that window was at least 10 degrees colder than the other air in the room.

This by itself would not ordinarily constitute a thank-you situation between the two of us, but there are some other factors to consider. The first is the fact that a hospital does not care what time it is. If the nurses have a chart that says blood needs to be drawn at 4 am, then it's drawn at 4 am. Vital signs need to be taken throughout the night, and this can't be done with the light off. So at any time during the night, a nurse could walk in, flip on the lights and do what they have to do. And not that I'm complaining, I know they have a job to do, but this meant that neither Kelly or I got a full night's sleep for just about two weeks.

Another reason that I think a thank-you is warrented, is that for most of the time I was in there, I was essentially an invalid. I couldn't get out of bed without help, I couldn't clean myself, and even needed help eating and drinking for a few days. It wasn't very often that I had to ask for anything. Kelly seemed to be able to anticipate my every need and have it taken care of before I even knew I needed it. This may not seem like much, but from where I was sitting it was a pretty big deal.

I think Kelly may also be on the verge of being a registered nurse now. In addition to all the medical things that need doing, there are the mundane tasks as well. Some of these things I mentioned above, but others included changing bedding and getting clean towels and wash cloths. The nurses are busy attending to a lot of patients on the floor I was on, and having Kelly there made my life so much easier because I didn't have to wait when I needed something. She would just go out to the desk and come back with whatever I needed. She walked with me and took care of the I.V. Stand when we were walking. She would make sure it got plugged back in and situated where it needed to be. She would also change the bedding while I sat in the chair. Things that other patients had to wait for a nurse to do for them.

But perhaps the biggest reason, that Kelly deserves a big thank-you, is the one that I am the most hesitant to talk about. When they did this surgery on me, they cut out part of my colon. While it heals, I have to have an iliostomy, which is a temporary bag. It's not something I was wild about, but I understand the necessity of it. There are necessities that go along with it as well. It needs to be emptied and cleaned and changed on a regular basis. I'd like to come up with a nice way to explain this thing, but I guess the most accurate way to say it is that it's gross. I have a part of my intestine sticking out of the side of my stomach and it's surrounded by a bag that is adhered to my body by all sorts of sticky stuff. Poop empties out of the intestine and into the bag. After the surgery, I was unable to to any of the care myself and Kelly did it all. No complaints, no jokes, just right to business and getting the job done.

I think the thing that I'm most grateful was that even though the whole situation was totally undignified, Kelly never made me feel that way. She felt terrible for me and tried very hard to combat the feelings that I was having regarding the bag and its maintenance.

Since we've been home, it has been much the same. Kelly has taken care of me without hesitation and without complaint.

The bag is temporary, and will hopefully be reversed in 3-4 months, during which time I know that I'll be in good hands again. So thank-you Kelly Church. Thank-you very much

I Will Win

Free at last

I want to apologize to everyone prior to writing  this post for the lack of updates lately.  Kelly has been updating facebook with new information each day, but until now, I have simply not felt physically able to type for any extended period of time.

 

The last two weeks have been filled with ups and downs on a scale that boggles my mind.  I speak  on a personal scale of course, I don’t really have any idea of how the last two weeks have been for most people.  I have had surgery, dealt with complications, undergone procedures to uncomplicated them and finally, been granted sweet release from the hospital.

 

First and foremost, the cancer is gone.  The surgery was a complete success from that standpoint and as of this moment, there is no cancer in my body.  I know this because of the pathology report that was done on the lymph nodes and small blood cells that were removed along with the small piece of my colon.  No lymph nodes were cancerous and no cancer cells were found in those small blood cells so that definitely qualifies as an “up” on my roller coaster ride.

 

While I was recovering, things  were looking good.  I was eating solid foods and there was talk of going home in a day or two.  I still would have missed my Super Bowl on my own couch timetable, but  I’d have been perfectly happy with that.  This is where the roller coaster took its first downhill plunge.  On Friday afternoon, right after I had gotten food, I started to feel hot and sweaty.  I thought maybe I was just adjusting to solid food again, so I really didn’t think much of it.   I got a little more concerned later that night when it didn’t stop and actually got worse.   By Saturday afternoon, I was getting worried and the doctors determined that my intestines had gone to sleep.  They told me that this happens about 40 percent of the time in these surgeries and that it would straighten itself out. 

 

I don’t have to tell you that when the intestine shuts down, the mail stops moving.  Air becomes trapped inside there and with nowhere to go, it begins to cause a stomach ache.  After a day of this, I had a whopper.  The nurses and doctors kept asking me if I felt nauseated  and I didn’t so I told them no.  It was really frustrating answering that question over and over again.  On Saturday afternoon, in one brief moment, the reasoning for the repeated question because crystal clear.  I was sitting up in bed watching TV while Kelly was talking on the phone.   My stomach lurched and I knew I was going to be sick.  I glanced over at Kelly as if to ask for help and before I could get words out of my mouth, I got lots of puke out.  It was brown, smelly, and everywhere.  It was exorcist puke.  I began to panic because I couldn’t draw breath and yet my stomach continued to heave.  Finally, it was over.  I sat on the bed covered in my own vomit, shaking, and drooling trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

 

It was explained to me that with the intestine sleeping, everything that enters the stomach has got to go somewhere, and the only somewhere it could go was up.

 

After a few minutes, a nurse came in with what they referred to as an NG Tube.  This is a tube that goes up your nostril and down your throat into the stomach.  It is then connected to some suction and used to empty out the stomach in hopes of restarting the intestine.  I have a bad gag reflex, so the idea of this tube was especially terrifying.  It took three tries, more vomit, and a lot more sweat and gagging before the tube finally got to where it needed to go.  I couldn’t talk without gagging, I couldn’t turn my head without aggravating my nose and my throat, and I knew I wasn’t going home nearly as quickly as I wanted to.

 

The tube did have the desired effect though.  Immediately after the suction started, the container filled with the same junk that I had been puking up minutes before.

 

I was devastated.  I had gone from being on the verge of being released to being there a minimum of three more days.   The nurses were all encouraging and the doctors continued to tell me that it was just a matter of time before the intestine started working again.  Thankfully, they were right and after a couple of days the tube came out.  (much easier than it went in, I might add).  From there it was just a waiting game while we got back on clear liquids and solid foods again to make sure that my stomach could handle it.

 

They teased us with the thought of a Friday afternoon release, but that didn’t happen so we had to wait until today to get the boot.

 

I have lots more about the hospital stay to talk about, but this is getting a bit long. 

 

I Will Win

Dear Kelly Church

Hey Baby, I just wanted to let you know that everything is going to turn out fine today. I know in some ways, this is going to be a lot worse for you than it will be for me.  Right now, you're sitting in the waiting room wondering how much longer it's going to be and I'm just laying around stressing you out like usual.  It's not to bad back here really.  There's lots of people in and out and I think the doctor just ordered pizza.  Hopefully he's getting Jets although nobody asked what I wanted.

I hope you're listening to the playlist I made for you.  All the songs on there are supposed to give you the message that this is going to be a piece of cake and it'll be over with before you know it.

I had intended to write you a much longer letter, but typing under heavy sedation is not the easiest thing in the world. So just hang tough and I'll be out soon enough.

I love you so much can't wait to feel your hand on mine when I wake up

TTMAB

Your husband

Learning opportunities

So, the last few days have been a little bit of a learning experience for me. As the surgery date gets closer, I have been experiencing a couple of different emotions. Part of me is excited to get this part of it over with. I don't know if this is actually the case or not, but I've been looking at the surgery as the big hurdle to beating this thing. The other emotion is somewhere on the scale between nervousness and terror. I've talked in previous posts about the “what if” factor and that is still alive and strong, especially as Monday gets closer.

I got to take part in an event on Tuesday night that was a little overwhelming. Every year, the Sault and Brimley play a basketball game with a lot events around it that are designed to help the Hospice House and the Road To Recovery van for Chippewa County. It is officially called Rivals vs. Cancer, but a lot of people just call it The Pink Game. The location rotates between Sault Ste. Marie and Brimley every year and this year, it was the Sault's turn to host it. The people behind the event do a really good job of getting everything together. There is a big tailgate dinner prior to the games, a silent auction, T-Shirts representing the event, a 50-50 drawing (Which Kelly Church won and donated $120 of her winnings back to the Road To Recovery van), and a half court shot contest (Kelly did not win that, but no one else did either so the money went to Hospice).

My surgery was supposed to be the Monday before the Pink Game, but I asked them to put it off a week, knowing that I wanted to go to this game. Not so much for the events around it, but for the game itself. Shane is a senior this year, and his team (Brimley) has held its own, winning last year and holding their own in previous games.

I got a surprise a few days prior to the game as one of the kids I coached a couple years ago on the freshman team called me and asked if I'd walk with him at the Pink Game. Between the two games, players from all the teams walk with an escort in honor of someone or in memory of someone. They get sponsors to raise money for the cause and typically, the escorts are people who have cancer or have beaten it. Jeff Monck was the player who I escorted. He is one of the rare players who makes it all the way to the varsity from the freshman team and not only did Jeff make the team, he is a starter this season. Jeff and I have a little history as he had decided that he wasn't going to play his sophomore year. I found about it and called him. We talked about his decision and the reasons behind it. I didn't order him to play or anything, but pointed out some of the reasons that he should stick it out. He eventually decided to stay and totally committed to it. He spent all summer in the gym and between last summer and this summer, he has dropped 40 pounds and has made himself into a solid player. To say that I'm proud of him would be an understatement.

Anyway, Kelly had contacted Bill Schomberg, the Sault varsity coach and approached him about sponsoring Jeff for the game. So getting to walk out at halftime was cool, but getting to walk out with Jeff was what made it special for me.

 

It was a little overwhelming. Jeff and I were pretty close to the front of the line so we got to be out in the gym as most of the other players came in with their escorts. As I stood there, watching all the people come out, I began to notice that there were a lot of people walking in memory of someone. It was a very sobering experience to listen to the emcee announce all of that. I remember hearing the applause when Jeff and I were announced, but the coolest moment was when Sault High student Jessica Jorgensen was announced. She is battling Leukemia and the round of applause she received was deafening.

If I'm being honest, and I have tried to be throughout this blog, I have to admit that in years past, I've always looked at the events between the games as time consuming. I love watching basketball and usually have to go to work after the games, so when the games go long, it means that I have to hurry in order to get to work on time. I can tell you that you get a new perspective on it when you become a part of the battle. It becomes more personal and the events surrounding the game become more than than a side note. I hope that no one else ever has to learn that lesson, but I did.

My other learning experience came the following day. Kelly and I had been talking about Durable Power of Attorney documents to make sure that we had all of our bases covered, but up until Wednesday, it had all been talk. Kelly contacted one of our neighbors who is an attorney and she drew them up and dropped them off to Kelly at her work. It's funny how taking care of paperwork that is designed to go into effect only if something goes wrong can make you focus on all the things that could go wrong. Kelly and I went down to the Clerk's office to sign the papers in front of witnesses and have them notarized. I would rather have been getting a root canal than standing there trying to act like this didn't bother me. I know that it's in mine and Kelly's best interests to get it done, but that doesn't necessarily make it any easier to face the prospect that something bad could happen and you are acknowledging that possibility to the point that you are doing paperwork in case it does.

As the day draws closer, I find that my nerves show a little bit more. For example, the fact that I can't help my daughter Abbie with her science project (which was going to be a catapult), because of the timing of the surgery, is pissing me off to no end. I also lost one of our debit cards Wednesday evening and nearly gave myself a stroke trying to remember where I had put it. Kelly came to the rescue though, when she found it outside in the snow between the house and the garage. Why I would have set it there, I have no idea.

Along with the nerves and the minor bouts of panic, there are glimmers of hope too. Hope that the worst will be behind me and that life will go on as usual for a long, long time. “Just get through this,” I keep telling myself. “Just get through the chemo and radiation,” “Just get through the surgery.” “Just get through the last round of chemo after the surgery.” Even though I keep telling myself that, I plan to do more than just get through it. I plan to thrive after this business is done. I realized the other night at the Pink Game that the best of me is yet to come. So many people came together at that event to make a difference. I plan to make a difference as well.

I Will Win

Lists and wishes

So, I know that you’re probably thinking that this is way too soon for another post. They are usually a lot more spread out. This is true, but I was reading something last night that got me thinking, and for me, writing is what usually follows thinking.

I was reading the book Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy (great book, by the way. I think this is the third time I’ve read it) and towards the end, a son is born to one of the main characters and his wife. Shortly after the birth, the man (Domingo Chavez) starts re-evaluating his life and things he wants for himself and his family.

When you read something like that, I think there’s a natural tendency to evaluate the things in your own life and what you’d like as compared to where you are. This is not to say that anyone should look at their current life with any sort of negative connotation as compared to what they’d like their life to be. It’s just natural, I think, for the human brain to constantly be updating a mental wish list.

I had someone tell me once that I could never be satisfied with anything, that I didn’t enjoy the things that I had for two seconds before I wanted the next thing. Like most things in life, I would have to say that this is partially true, but not in the sense that the person meant it.

If I were to die tomorrow, I could do so perfectly happy with the material things that I have right now. Does this mean that there isn’t anything that I’d like to have? Of course not. There are lots of material things that I would love to own. I’ll list some of them for you.

1- I’d love to drive a brand new Ford F-150 with all the options on it. It would be a deep blue with leather seats and of course it would be 4-wheel drive.

2- I’d love to have an x-box 1 to play with.

3- I would really like to have a stable of snowmobiles to ride around on with my family.

4- I want a golf cart in the worst way. But not some generic one. As long as I’m wishing, I’d want a red one that looks like a mini sports car or something like that.

These are all things that I may never end up having and honestly, I’m just fine with that. The things that I have now keep me more than occupied and more than happy.

The list above is what the person was referring to when mentioning my inability to be satisfied, and like I said, while I’d love to have those things, I’m doing just fine without them.

There is another list though of things that I am not satisfied with. It is this list that I will not be happy with until I have a lot more check marks on it than I currently have. Some of the items on it may seem materialistic, in fact, some of them are extremely materialistic, but the difference is, they’re not for me. This list is longer than the first by far.

1- I want to hold a grandchild in my arms before I’m done here. And not any time soon, mind you, but I would like that feeling very much.

2- I want to outlive my mother. I know, this sounds like a jackass thing to say and it probably is, but let me explain. In my life, I have watched grandparents on both sides of my family bury one of their children. It’s not something that I’d wish on anyone, least of all my own mother.

3- I have watched three of my children celebrate their 16^th birthday. There’s two left to hit this milestone and I’m going to be pissed if I miss out on the cake and ice cream for either of them. Kelly Church makes a mean Texas sheet cake.

4- In the spirit of No. 3, I have three daughters who I’d like to attend weddings for. I realize that in this day and age, that may not come to pass, but it’s something that I would enjoy. Two of these daughters will be mine to walk down the aisle and have the father-daughter dance with, while the oldest (my stepdaughter), will bring me every bit as much joy just by my being there to watch her big day. And while I don’t consider myself old-fashioned in too many ways, I would prefer that No. 4 on this list happens before No. 1.

5- I would like to live at least a year of my life in the black. Debt free that is. People say it’s pretty cool.

6- In direct contradiction to No. 5, I would like to give my wife a ring. And not just any ring, I’m talking about THE ring. The one that makes a woman’s breath quicken just a bit. When we got married, I gave her the ring that my dad gave to my mom, and I think that was a pretty cool moment for us. We picked out a ring together that has five stones on it, one for each of the kids. And she has one that her grandmother gave to her. But I’d like to get her one someday in the more traditional sense of picking it out myself and surprising her with it. The other ones are extremely special in that they have connections to other people in our lives, but I would like for there to be one that is only shared by the two of us.

There are lots more things on this list, but I just went back and read it and it seems pretty demanding so I think I’ll just stop there for now.

To close this out, I just want to include a message to the parasite living in me that is trying to suck the years from my life.

You can’t have me yet cancer. There are grandbabies I have to meet, weddings I have to attend and gifts that I have yet to be able to afford to give out. There may be a day when I won’t have the strength or the will to hold you off or get rid of you. Today is not that day. I will be rid of you soon and you will not be invited back.

I Will Win

Christmas with the Church family

Well, as of today, surgery is 20 days away. I spent my morning yesterday at the hospital here in the Sault getting a few pre-operative tests done and everything seems to have gone ok. I had to get some blood drawn, an EKG, and a chest x-ray. It went surprisingly quick.

We had our Church family Christmas this past weekend which is always one of my favorite events of the year. My brothers and our families all gather at my mom's house in St. Helen and celebrate the holiday. We usually do it before Christmas, but this year, it just worked out better for everyone to do it after. I'll admit, I wasn't thrilled about doing it after Christmas was over, just because I enjoy the build-up to the holiday and I didn't think that sense of excitement would be there with the big day already in the rear-view mirror. As it turns out, it may have worked out better this way because there was a sense of relaxation that isn't usually there. There was no pressure of things that still had to be done before Christmas, no last minute gifts to be bought and no stress about anything. It was just our family enjoying a weekend together.

My youngest brother Clay, had been trying to organize a tubing outing at Hanson Hills in Grayling. They way they do it is you pay $10 per person for an hour of tubing. I confess, that despite telling Clay to count us in, I was not overly excited about going. It was supposed to be warmer than the previous few days, but still cold. The kids were all looking forward to going though so off we went. I felt really bad because my wife's snowpants came up missing and she ended up not being able to tube. I give her a lot of credit though. She was a good sport about the whole thing and hung out by the fire pit at the bottom of the hill and took pictures and videos of us going down the hill. We had a lot of fun and it's definitely something I would do again. Thanks Clay for making that happen.

My wife Kelly is behind the camera, and my son Andrew is with his grandma helping to clean the church.  Sydney, my stepdaughter is at school in Indiana.  This was a really good time and something I'd be happy to do again.

My son Andrew didn't want to go tubing and although I was a little bummed, I can't say that I blame him. His reluctance comes from a sledding outing when he was a little kid. We went to a hill near his mom's house which is fairly steep and well used. Someone who had been there before us had built a huge jump near the bottom of the hill, right in the middle. Andrew's first run down the hill started out pretty funny. For whatever reason, he kept running into these little ridges on the hill and he looked sort of like a live plinko chip heading down the hill. About halfway down, I could see what was going to happen, but was powerless to stop it. The ridges were funneling him right into line with the jump at the bottom. At that time, Andrew was not very coordinated and had no idea how to slow himself down or how to simply roll off the sled. He hit that jump at a high rate of speed and went damn near 10 feet in the air. The sled shot out from under him and he landed flat on his back. I thought for sure he had a concussion or had seriously hurt his back. Luckily though, he just had the wind knocked out of him, but the sledding trip was definitely over. Since then, outdoor winter activities have not exactly been his favorite thing. My mom and aunt went in to St. Helen to clean the church while we were gone tubing and Andrew volunteered to help them so I'm glad that he had that time with his grandma and aunt.

The tubing trip happened on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, we had dinner up at Grandma's house. Mom made a couple of roasted chickens and all the trimmings. After dinner, we went back to mom's house and hung out and ended up playing a board game called Apples to Apples after the younger kids went to bed. It's a fun game and we made it more fun in the Church style of board games which involves a lot of fun teasing and trash talk. I was waiting for Kelly and Shane to get there because Shane had a basketball game in Mackinaw City which ended up going into triple overtime, so they didn't get there until much later in the evening. (Ami, I did some double checking just to make sure we weren't teasing you for nothing, and I'm sorry to tell you, Jupiter is, in fact, still categorized as a planet) Sydney had to be back to school and wasn't able to be there for the festivities. We missed you Syd!

On Saturday morning, mom made breakfast for everyone and after that, we opened gifts. I got to be Santa Claus and hand out all the presents. It was so much fun watching all the kids open their gifts up and laugh and smile as they tore up paper and looked over their new stuff.

I caught myself a couple of times, trying to step back a little bit and take it all in. Like I was trying to take a mental snapshot that I could hold onto. I feel like sometimes that we (people in general) look at moments and scenes like that as something to be tolerated instead of treasured. I feel lucky to have the family that I do, because looking around that room in those moments, I felt like we were all feeling the same thing. Not tolerance, but actual happiness and enjoyment. That's what made it feel special for me.

After the previously tubing trip on Saturday, we all gathered at Grandma's house again and had a very good spaghetti dinner. Mom did the majority of cooking for the weekend and it was all fantastic.

My brother Graham bought a pair of snomobiles a couple years ago and although they are a source of frustration for him at times, I'm glad that he got them. He went out after dinner and got them running and asked if I wanted to come out and ride them a little. The kids love to be pulled behind them in the sled and Shane did a great job of pulling them around. Graham also found a great deal on a mini-snomobile for Taylor and I convinced Abbie to get on it and drive it a little. After a couple of hesitant loops around the driveway, she found her comfort zone and was trying to convince me that we needed one of those.

At one point, I looked over at Graham while everyone was on or being pulled by a snomobile and there was a look of satisfaction on his face that made me happy for him. Shortly after that, he came up to me and after a couple minutes of conversation, he said to me “This is what I bought these for. I like to see everyone having a good time riding them.”

Soon after that, everyone started packing up and pulling out. I helped Graham get the snomobiles loaded up and put away and everyone got on the road to head back to their respective homes. I had a great time and can't wait to do it again next year.

I Will Win