From Andrea

Tam,
You made me cry-right in the middle of the computer lab. :) It was a good cry, though and I am grateful for your example. I get stressed and snippy with my sweet family and I need things like your post to remind me just how lucky I am. For example, my crazy Luke has a sweet little crush on a sweet little girl at school. (Shhhh, he doesn't want anyone to know...) He left home this morning with regular store-bought Valentines for most of the kids in his class, but for Ellie, he cut out of soft pink paper, a heart and wrote her name on it. I was grateful to see that although many obstacles stand in his way of being romantic, i.e. Joe :), he has a tender spot for Ellie that brings out his sweetness. The other day he asked me, "Mom, do you think Ellie will pick me to marry her, because, you know, she can pick whoever she wants. But I'm always nice to her, so maybe she'll pick me." She would be so lucky.
And Jozlyn, woken up way too early by my blowdryer as I tried to hurry and get ready for an early meeting last week came into the bathroom and greeted me with her sleepy, early morning look that I so adore. As I guided her to my bed to go back to sleep, she said, "But Mom, I want to stay up and see you make yourself beautiful." I picked her up and squeezed her and let her watch me TRY to make myself beautiful.
And Kate-there is so much to say and so little time to write. She rarely wakes up crying, but rather babbling to the angels that gather in her room every morning, because they miss her sweetness in heaven. And when you scoop her up to love her while she's playing, the way she pauses just long enough to lay her head down on your chest and wrap her tiny little arms around you, then squirms away because there is fun to be had. The way she adores her big sister and already tries to do all the things she does, whether it's running around the house screaming (lovely) or sitting calmly reading a book. I can't (but can, at the same time) wait to see what kind of young lady she'll be and the people who will flock to be around her.
I love my family. There are times when they drive me bonkers, but moments like this remind me of just how empty I'd be without them.

Thank you, Tam.
Love,
Andrea