Life Goes On

Well, I managed to survive this weekend. I thought it was going to be absolutely horrible, but it actually wasn't that bad at all. This probably has something to do with the fact that I have an amazing and supportive family and group of friends. I think it also just proves that no matter how difficult things seem to get at times, life does go on. Just because something bad happens in our life doesn't mean we stop living it. Even though we hate them, our hardships make us better, wiser and stronger. Trust me, I would much rather not have this much life experience at the age of 26, but we have to make the best of the hand we are dealt. There are some things in our life that we have control over and some things that we do not. What I have learned is to focus on the things that I do have control over and let go of the things I don't have control over. There is nothing I can do about those things, so why would I allow them make me miserable? Let go and enjoy your life. We only get a short time here in this life, so live it up.

We went out to lunch on Sunday after church with my grandparents. We had a very surreal moment while we were at lunch when I just knew that my dad was with us. Back story...I am deathly afraid of clowns. I hate them. I freak out whenever I see a clown and I have to get away from it right away if I see one out somewhere. Knowing that I am terrified of clowns, my dad used to mess with me about it. He would always joke around and pretend like he was going to hire a clown for me for every special occasion. Every year on my birthday when he would call me, he would always say somewhere in the conversation, "so have the clowns I ordered for you shown up yet?" I always knew he was joking, but I was also secretly afraid that one of these days he was actually going to follow through on his prank. Well, on Sunday he did it. We all went to church together, visited him at the cemetery and then went to lunch. About halfway through our lunch, these two clowns walk into the restaurant. My brother drew my attention to them as they came in. I looked up and jokingly said, "thanks a lot Rocky". Next thing I know, the clowns are walking over to our table. Panic ensued. They came over and talked to us at our table, I of course said nothing because I was frozen in fear. Finally they made their way up to the counter to order their lunch. They didn't visit any other table in the restaurant. It was very odd. Nice prank dad. Touche.

There is a local fishing club that regularly holds bass tournaments that my brother and my dad would sometimes fish in together. In fact, my brother and my dad fished together in the first tournament that this club ever held and won it. The club was holding a tournament on Saturday and when they found out what day it was, they decided to have everyone at it fish in honor of my dad. My brother and my uncle fished the tournament together and while they didn't win anything, I'm sure it was still a very special moment for the two of them. Especially because both of them learned how to fish from my dad when they were little and probably attribute much of their love for fishing to him.

We attended worship service at my parents' church on Sunday. The altar flowers that day were in honor of my dad.

We visited my dad's grave site on Sunday after church. Everyone else in my family has been there numerous times over the past year, but this was the first time I had been there since the funeral. My post from Saturday explains why. I was surprised and very touched to discover flowers from Jared and I's friends when we arrived there. What a sweet gesture. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends.