I don’t think I have ADHD until times like this… You see, I was just busy finishing up wrapping Christmas presents, and I found the picture frame I had bought for my Mom that says “Me & My Girls.”  Of course I realized that I needed a picture to put inside the frame before I wrapped the gift! I mean the girls that are in the picture that came with the frame are cute and all, but you know it just won’t mean the same to my Mom unless it is “her and her girls,” like the frame says. (By the way, that really is a pet peeve of mine – people that buy frames and put them around and don’t ever put pictures in them – but leave the “studio models” in the frames.)  But back to the reason for this blog post… there goes that ADHD again.

The first year was great – we had a campfire and watched a hilarious movie and went for a long walk around the lake, fed the ducks…

Last year was not good due to really scary tornadoes and we drove through a storm to get to the lake house and then we were delayed for over five hours due to downed power lines and trees – only to arrive at my sister’s place to sit in the dark because her power was also out! We were exhausted, we couldn’t watch our movies or play games in the dark, so we all just went to bed and it was cold and well…miserable.

This past year was the best yet! It was way too cold and windy for a fire outside, so we sat together and we talked and talked and laughed and had so much fun. (I won Scrabble and Crazy Eights, just thought I would mention that.) We hope this tradition will continue on for as long as possible. It’s a blessing to be together.

That’s my sister Joan in the black, then my Mom, Lois; my baby sister Jo, and then me! One more thing about the SAM’s weekend…there is a sister who is missing, her name was Jean. You see, she died back on July 19, 1985, in a tragic car accident. We miss her every single day. At our parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary we honored her memory – you can see it in the picture below:

I am the oldest of four girls, Jan, Jean, Joan, and Jo. We are actually all four “PJ’s:” Pamela Jan, Phyllis Jean, Patricia Joan and Peggy Jo.  At my parents’ fiftieth anniversary party, us girls had our picture taken and my niece Amy, Jean’s daughter, stood “in Jean’s place next to me.”  Do you see the tears brimming in my eyes in the picture below?  It was literally all I could do to stand there… Amy was only 23 months old when Jean died – and now that she is a young woman, she treasures stories of her mother.

Jean is missed every single time our family gets together, but especially on these SAM’s weekends. We know she is in the presence of the Lord because the Word of God assures us that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Father.”

As Christmas Eve draws near, I am reminded that every memory I have at this time of year includes my sister Jean.  She was “next in line” to me, so we grew up together. I learned a lot when Jean died – about what is really important and how brief life is.  She was only 25 years young, and I was a 27 year old young mother myself – with two little boys myself when we buried her.

I know without a doubt that her death shaped my life. I am not a worrier, I treasure every single day God grants, and I delight in the Lord.  I rest in the assurance that I will see her again one day because Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Talk about a SAM’s weekend!!! Can you imagine?  It will change to “Savior and Mansions,” and it will last way longer than one weekend, hallelujah! How about an eternity?  What do you think about that?

Now I’ve got to go…I’ve got some presents to wrap, and some memories to unwrap…

Much love,