You KNOW it's special when...

Look back to The Grinder for just a second. (I have the link creating a new window so you won't lose your place here.)

I mention "us" and "we" and "Jen." I do that casually. It's almost like I take her for granted. Now read my bullet list again and try to put your mind around the timeframe. I only saw her and the kids on weekends during 20 of the 21 months we had full-time revenue from my business or full-time employment. The rest of the time we were living off of retirement savings or depending on family and friends for things like food costs. And I didn't see her on anywhere near ALL of the weekends. For a 12-month stay in North Phoenix, she visited for one month and I had five weekends and Christmas week with my family.

The rest of the time she did it on her own. We had a little help from our friend that opened up his home to us. But pretty much she had 20 months of solo time with four kids ranging in age from 3 to 12. Going to two schools...with their starting and ending times staggered by an hour. Fixing food for a full family. Keeping four kids headed towards (and often down) the straight and narrow. Our middle two (both daughters) professed faith in Jesus during those times and were baptized.

One thing has been constant during the past five years. Jen has been there for me. We suffered apart and we suffered together. It wasn't perfect, but it has stayed whole. We both can sense healing in ourselves and each other, so we hope we've "turned the corner" so to speak. But if we have to go through more, I think we'll do just fine.

Thanks, my Love. You really mean the world to me.