Four

I actually wrote this blog on August 6 but never got around to posting it.

Kevin comes from a family of 4 children.  His brother, John, has 4 kids.  My sister has 4 children.  If you add up my dad's children, you get 4 of us.  My dad was the youngest of 4 children.  My Uncle Dwight had 4 kids.  What is it with 4?

Last night Kevin called his sister to wish her a happy birthday.  I didn't listen to the entire conversation but ended up hearing all of Kevin's side due to his excited and therefore loud voice.  As I sat there doing the dishes and straining to hear the Olympic commentator, I thought wow... This guy really loves his siblings.  This lead to thinking about how completely blessed both Kevin and I are to have families that while not perfect are not at odds with each other.   We love our families and they love us no matter what hurdles are thrown in our way. Not everyone can say that.  

The oldest  of the 4 Johnson brothers, my Uncle Dwight, passed away this last July after a long yet graceful struggle with mesothelioma.   At his memorial service, the other 3 Johnson boys spoke.  They call themselves boys because on some levels they all view life like a boy.  At one point in the service, Uncle Walt talked about one of the last times he was visiting Dwight and how they had flown mini model helicopters around the room and dreamed of doing it in the sanctuary.  The next thing we knew one of those model helicopters was flying  around the sanctuary before landing safely on my dad's palm.   As a Johnson daughter, this didn't surprise me in the least.  

This silly little blog doesn't do justice to the wonder of family and the gratitude I have in my heart for my own.  But, it always feels good to write stuff down.