Andie & Connor

So last weekend was Andie and Connor's first flight together and of course, they handled it like pros. It was such a pleasure to have them here with us - watching them together is so much fun. There is no little boy who will be loved like Connor is - he is immediately the apple of every one's eye.

But I have to be honest, I couldn't help but feel sad as we were getting ready for them to arrive that this was a trip Tom should have been coming on - one of those family classics that we'd rehash for years. I can picture sitting at the kitchen table laughing about the boys and thinking about the years ahead - picturing what the kids might be like as they grew up. It was hard to stomach that he wasn't coming along. Seamus was also a little upset before they got here - maybe he's just in tune to my emotions and he had a little cry before naps on the 3rd. He asked me why God couldn't just make another Tom and I said because he's not gone, he's just in heaven watching over us all.

And then Andie and Connor arrived shining like they always do, and I suddenly felt better. Andie has a lovely grace about her that lets you know that it's going to be alright. We all talked about Tom (among lots of other things). We laughed a ton and we said an awful lot of "I Love Yous". We made new memories. Told a lot of stories. But really we just got to be together as siblings (and now as parents too). I am so grateful for Andie - for her openness, her strength, her sense of humor and her friendship. And Connor, Oh Man, is he going to be fun. The pictures don't do justice to how solid he is - he already is Andie's rock. Life is complicated - but it isn't anything at all if we don't have each other.