Many Lasts

Friday, May 21, 2010, was just an ordinary day.  I was at work and was really looking forward to the weekend and having John home.  He worked 24-hour shifts and Saturday was going to be his last day on duty before he was off for four days and it couldn't get here fast enough!

Many of you know that John watched the kids on his days off and was “super” daddy.  I can’t think of a better daddy...he was funny, smart, and so great with the kids.  With his creative side, you can imagine the things he taught Breck by the time I got home from work nine hours later. 

I was supposed to get my haircut at 4:00 that day and John called and asked if we could grab dinner instead.  A few hours later, I was home from work and we headed out.  On the way there, we saw an individual in a wheelchair and John said his normal saying, “There by the grace of God, go you and I."  Perhaps this was a foreshadowing of what was to come.

Our really good friends, the Miller's, were getting ready to have their little girl, baby Quinn.  We went to a cute little boutique in Prairie Village and picked out her baby gift and then headed to Minsky’s Pizza for dinner.  The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed a great family dinner.  I was going to ask the waitress to take a picture of the four of us but decided not to.  I wish I had as that would have been our last family picture.

On our way home, we stopped at the Mission Fire Station.  Emma and I stayed in the car and Brecken and John went inside for a few minutes.  After that, we stopped at Sam’s to grab a few things.  While I was inside, the boys put stickers from the firefighters all over Breck's face.  Didn’t I tell you that John could entertain anyone?  I had the flip video camera with me so I recorded the boys before we left the parking lot.  This would be our last video of John.

Once we got home, we put Breck to bed and brought Emma downstairs to the “man cave” with us.  We had some catching up to do on the HBO series, “The Pacific.”  Normally I was the one that got to hold Emma since I didn't see her during the day but that night, something was different.  John wanted to hold her all night long on his chest.  She looked so peaceful snuggling with him.  It was a really sweet moment that I will cherish forever.  We finished an episode and a half of the show and decided we better call it a night since we both had busy days the next day.