Father's Day & New Granddaughter

Greetings,
(That was always Mike's preferred salutation.) :-)

I spent several hours on Father's Day with Mike. He was a bit agitated when I arrived, but after a small dose of medication, he calmed down and I was able to take him to church. Afterwards, I took him to a local park where we enjoyed a homemade picnic in the great outdoors. A man and his two children were practicing medieval sword play with their soft weapons and shields which provided fun entertainment as we ate and subsequently walked around the soccer field. We were able to video chat with both of our boys and their families also. Mike doesn't say much, but I do think he enjoys actually seeing them. Back at The Harbor, we tried to talk with Mike's Dad, but I think by then he was over-stimulated so the nurse and I got him to bed with a new book I had brought him. At that point, he was ready for me to go.

Even though we had several good hours together, the abrupt ending left me feeling down as I drove away. I'm usually the one who tells Mike that I have to go and this time, although he didn't tell me to go in words, his actions spoke clearly. It was such a lovely day that I thought we'd stay outside and play a game or sit and admire the flower gardens, but he couldn't that day and it made me sad. I had to remind myself how well he did at church and at the park, plus be thankful that he is comfortable in his space at The Harbor.

I left there and drove to NC to await the arrival of our third grandchild who arrived the following Friday, June 24, right on schedule! Riley is a beautiful baby girl who looks like her mother, red hair and all. She was 6 lbs. 11 oz. and 18 inches long. We praise God that everyone is healthy and doing well. After the first couple of nights, she was sleeping for 2-3 hours at a stretch which made her Mom and Dad very happy. I had the privilege of playing with and caring for Aria, while everyone else was at the hospital, plus learning how to handle and train their 5 month old puppy, Brody.

Aria is a real joy. She's at the age of taking in so much, mimicking what others do and say, full of laughter, fun, and inquisitiveness, plus testing the boundaries. I called this age the terrible and terrific two's when mine were little. Brody is fun and can be a challenge. Thankfully, he is a very trainable dog and rarely barks. He has his "mouthy" and hyper times, but overall is very good. It was a special time being with all of them for almost 2 weeks.

If you zoom in,
there is a hummingbird
sitting on the electric
fence. 

Back home it's all about gardening, humidity, heat and the normal day-to-day activities. I've been trying to do a little bit of writing, but it is not flowing easily right now and I'm having a very hard time settling into any real routine in that regard. I have multiple things I want to read about writing and blogging, plus I have The Great Courses classes I ordered, but I have not been disciplined to do it. I tend to work on whatever seems urgent and is staring me in the face or take a break and read a fun book instead of making the time for these things. The tyranny of the urgent meets procrastination and the result is frustration. I have some sort of fear of this new path which is paralyzing me and causing me to cling to what I know I can do well, rather than taking the risk of a new venture with God. Prayers please!

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, 

let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.