Where were you two years ago?

Where were you in 2006?

I was trying to recover from life at that time.

2006 was the year that I lost two mothers-in-love. Here is the story of one mother-in-love.

Here is the other one.
This is Janie (or Lou-lou as my kids always called her). She was my first husband's step mother. She was a wonderful woman and a very good friend. She was my mother in many ways after my own mom passed away. She was always there for me and my kids. I still miss her.


My sister was in a coma for several weeks and everyone thought that she would pass away.
Here is a picture of her in her healthy days...
She is very fragile now...




My husband lost his job of 15 years.

I lost my job.

All three of my sons were married within a couple of months.

My middle son was deployed to Iraq.

My other sons moved to different parts of the country. Here is one of the last pictures of all of them together (from 2005).
They are (top row from left: Army Guy, Marine Man, Navy Nuke; Front row from left: Betty Boop, Marine Wife, Navy Wife) - None of the Wives were yet wives - they were all girlfriends. Army Wife was brand new in the picture at that time - she wasn't there that night.

Here is a recent pic (I can't seem to get them all home at the same time-so just pretend that Marine Man and Wife are in it).
left to right: Army Wife, Army Guy, Betty Boop, Navy Nuke, Navy Wife

All my sons are in different branches of the service...

Marine Man and Army Guy

Navy Nuke

My husband and I were on the verge of divorce.
Once upon a time…
There was a man and a woman who were very much in love.
(the story is about halfway down the post... )
We were roommates.

My life was spinning out of control.

But I was knitting and I had friends that I could help me pretend that everything was OK.

And I did pretend.

Eventually, life did become OK.

My sister recovered.

My son came back from Iraq (with some emotional scars, but he is recovering).


My husband got a new job.

I got a new job.

I will never completely recover from losing my two mothers-in-love (that is our reference for mother-in-law). But I have been able to live with it and so has my family.

I have had one son go to Afghanistan and Iraq return healthy. I have had second son go to Iraq and return healthy.
I have learned to adjust to life with my sons far from me. It isn't easy, and my heart hurts sometimes, but we still have a strong love and we let each other know it. They are wonderful people who I value and respect. I pray that some day we will all be able to live close again, and until then perhaps we can at least vacation together.

My husband and are no longer just roommates. We have finally turned a corner and see our lives together on an uphill slope. We found out there was a medical problem that was complicating our issue.

It was sad to realize that much of our pain could have been avoided for the last few years.

But things are looking up and I am no longer having to pretend.

The best part is that my knitting friends have been there all along. They were always supportive and caring. They knew everything wasn't always perfect, but they never pressed. They always let me share just as much as I needed to...

I want to say thank you to everyone who has listened to me, cared for me, prayed for me, emailed me, or just thought about me fondly.



Thank you all for your support and love. I am so hugely blessed that I feel my heart will burst.