A Lot of Candy. A Little Sleep.

From mid-morning until lunch time, I talked to a representative from Social Services. He asked me about our family and our support system. He wanted to know about each member of the family and how each is coping with these circumstances. I enjoyed describing to him each member of the family and how God is working in each heart and each life.

Lunch was bland. Chicken salad and pasta salad.

The afternoon brought many visitors, one bearing cookies, another bearing three harmonicas! I was blessed to hear Take My Life and Let it Be and When We All Get to Heaven played on this simple, yet beautiful instrument.

This afternoon I also had a sponge bath and shampoo. I actually had to have my hair shampooed!

The afternoon mail included a long letter from a good friend. It was one of those letters that I had to read in parts, because it made me cry so much. It was a beautiful letter.

My younger son and daughter arrived with my wife at about 3 p. We enjoyed taking some pictures; at our son's request, we each prayed; we read stories from Highlights for Children; and our son practiced counting to 100, by ones and by tens.

Around 4 p, our friends, The Ashleys, arrived - with Mountain Dew to share! Rod McLaughlin and his daughter Emily also arrived to pick up our children. My Aunt Betty and cousin Sue came by. A little later, my cousin Diane and her husband Lynn dropped in, bearing a Jack-o-Lantern full of "penny" candy from Weniger's Variety Store - the kind of candy we used to buy as kids. What a treat! My cousin Betsy stopped by after work - she works as a nurse in the recovery room; she spotted the container of candy and said that she had prepared something very similar, but forgot to bring it! She reminded me of the time that our parents dressed us (me, Betsy, and cousin Charlie) as Snap, Crackle and Pop of Rice Krispy fame.

By six, most of the visitors started to leave and my wife (and Mrs. Ashley) walked over to Pauli's Hot Dogs to pick up dinner. They brought back BLT wraps, chili dogs, and Boardwalk-style fries.
We finished eating just in time for our small group to arrive at 7. We were all present, except for Pastor Matt. We enjoyed eating candy out of the plastic pumpkin, laughing, talking, singing hymns and spiritual songs, and praying together. It was a sweet, sweet time of prayer!

By ten, we wound down. My wife and I read the e-mails and blog comments that came in throughout the day. My wife read some cards and napped while I finished this post. And now, it is time to put the laptop down so that I do not wake up with it on my lap in the morning.

I have been awake now for 20 hours and I need to sleep.