Eric Bailey's

I witnessed a special moment. I managed to make a crazy trip to go see my grandpa. I knew my parents would be there so my family and raced to Midale on Saturday and raced home Sunday. The special moment was when my dad arrived and he went to Grandpa. Grandpa saw him and smiled a huge grin. This was someone he was waiting to see, someone he was hoping to see. Grandpa soon drifted back to sleep, but that moment I saw my Grandpa full there and joyful.

Later after supper we went back to visit Grandpa. He got out of bed the previous day, then he fell and hurt himself. So while we were there he was on pain medication and very drowsey. Tonight for our second visit, Erica sat next to him and she sang him some songs. Aunt Mary joined in and told Erica some songs Grandpa liked to hear. He was awake for the songs, mouthing the words, raising his hands, and holding Erica's hand. I'm not sure that there have been many moments lately that can top those two. The joy, the love, the purity of those moments are treasures for me.

Erica said that I would post a picture of our new van, so here it is. As you can see in the corner we still have our Mazda. We are now a two car family. We needed to do something for next year when I am in school and Erica and the boys would still need transportation here. The van has already been useful for our regular treks back to Thunder Bay.

I received a call today from my parents. They weren't panicking, but last night Grandpa wasn't doing well. I know they are going out next weekend. I don't know yet when I'm going to see him. Because of Andrea's emai, I called Grandpa last week. I talked about seeing him this summer, but he sounded unsure about being around that long. I'm worried and sad right now. I'm ready to do something, but I'm not sure what.

My wife told me that the little girl who went for surgery on Monday is not doing well. They were able to cut some of the cancer off but not all of it because of a major artory and it was attached to her lung. They are hoping to find out if the cancer is a kind that can be treated to make it shrink more without an operation. The family needs prayer.

Today I am going to meet with a fitness person to give me a routine for working out. This will give me a two days on, one day off routine. My wife then comments that I am really a kept man now. I clean the house, I look after the kids, and I go to the gym. As long as I don't start the traditional soap operas - Battlestar Galactica doesn't count.

Something is wrong with the toilet upstairs. Greg found a huge puddle on the floor and we found that the tank was leaking somewhere. Since we are tennants, I called the landlady today and she is going to get it looked at this weekend. Good thing we have another bathroom. I made a sign and taped it to the toilet with enough tape to "seal" the toilet seat down like in the hotels. I know it's the little things that amuse me. At least I didn't attack it with duct tape, like I'm supposed to do.

Well we are on break here. The difference will be this week I will be at home with the boys instead of by myself. I'm probably supposed to plan out activities for us for this week, but I haven't done it. I am planning on taking the boys skating a couple of times this week since the arena will be open for public skating in the afternoons. We have taken up skating on Wednesday nights. Taken up as in we have gone twice now, me and the boys. Liam is trying hard to skate and is falling lots, but he is also moving around pretty good. It won't be long till he understands what he is doing. Haaken is moving around the ice slowly but he is moving around it on his own. He is not as confident as Liam but he has his balance and is getting around on the ice without hanging on to the boards or me. My theory right now is if I can get them out on the ice enough times they will learn enough about skating that they will be able to get around. We can worry about lessons later. Liam is interested in hockey next year. That would be a big step for me, move from playing to watching my own son play.

This week we have gotten to know more people in the church here and actually talk with them. We attended a small group on Friday and enjoyed it. They meet for a meal, singing and then their study. This could start to give us those much needed relationships we are missing here.

Monday morning there is a little girl from town here who is going in for surgery because of cancer. If you get the opportunity pray for her and her family.