Because I Love You

I put Aaron on the potty seat in the bathroom, he was 20 months old, then I went into the kid’s bedroom to finish nursing Ana. After I finished with Ana, I heard Cannaday’s high pitch voice coming from another room, “Be still Aaron. Be still.” I was so busy getting ready I forgot Aaron was on the potty seat. It was December 1988 and we were getting ready to attend a Kwanzaa celebration and dinner. This was going to be our first big family outing since having Ana in August. We were living in a two‐bedroom townhome. The bathroom and bedrooms were upstairs and the living room, kitchen, dining room, and family rooms were on the first floor. I assumed their father was in the basement level of our townhouse ironing his clothes. I tightened up my bathrobe and headed for the bathroom down the hall to get Aaron off the potty seat. The light was on, and Aaron was sitting quietly on the “throne” while Cannaday, his 3 ½ year old big brother, was standing in front of him. The “throne” is a pott...

“Gone were the weak knees and legs getting ready to crumble, restored were my strong runner legs, dancer body, doing what I do best: rejoice, dance, run, hop, skip and jump. It was hallelujah time! It was praising God time! Between 7-8am EST Tuesday May 19, 2020, I texted Reggie asking how the day had gone, knowing it was about 8-9pm in Japan. His reply, “Mom and baby are stable and doing fine. I’m fine too,” was a normal reply regarding updates on his wife’s condition, our daughter Ana. On Sunday, Reggie told us Ana was in the US Naval Hospital in Okinawa Japan due to early dilation (3cm), our prayers were for her to go full term; she was in her sixth month. When I spoke with Ana Monday night EST/Tuesday morning JPN, she expected to be discharged that day or the next but all was well; but the next information I read in Reggie’s text took my breath away: Hensley Courtland Thomas born Tuesday May 19 Time: 1613 or 4:13PM JPN, 3:13AM EST Length: 13.8 inches Weight: 2lbs 5ozs Gestation: 26...

Lois Spotts, Tina, Grandma Rose, circa 1995 She was with me, Grandma Rose, my mother-in-law. She seemed sad. She was wearing her signature house dress with rope belt. Rose stood over me quietly pondering something, watching and observing like she did from time to time, studying us, her children, grandchildren, and daughters-in-law like me.   Rose always had a big heart. Although the words she spoke weren’t exactly “I love you,” they were laced with love, that is, they usually asked a lot of questions or told you what to do.   “Do you pack Roger’s bag when he travels?”   “What kind of food are you cooking for supper?”   “You’re gonna roll my hair for me tonight.”   “What’cha doing in the kitchen?”   “No, you can’t have the key to the freezer.”   “Don’t cut that cake until Sunday.” Many times, she would send us things we didn’t ask for but she knew we needed them before we did. “Now I bought this little sweater for Cannaday, I got it for $2.00, see. I wa...

I always dreamed of taking my family on a vacation like the ones my work colleagues talked about. Their stories about boating, fishing, hiking, and camping in the Adirondacks were fascinating to me. Growing up, my family didn’t take vacations like that. We visited relatives out of town and my dad took us kids fishing; catching night crawlers the night before and waking up at 4am to go fishing was exciting. However, I wanted my children to experience something more, a camping trip like my colleagues’ families. And so, my husband Roger and I saved our money, and in 1994 we rented a cottage in the Adirondacks for our young family, Cannaday (9yrs), Aaron (7yrs), and Ana (6yrs). I had never written a travel diary before. This was my first attempt to capture the special moments my life was too busy to savor. I wanted to have this travel diary for future remembrance when my life slowed down, if it ever did. Day 1 July 2 We left for the Adirondack Mountains at noon with borrowed fishing poles ...

When my son Cannaday began talking he was so cute. He was 15 months old when he said “book.”     The way he puckered his lips when he spoke was as if he was kissing the air. His voice was sweet, high pitched, and melodic. By the time he was 2 years old, his vocabulary increased but he had trouble pronouncing the “tr” sound. Words with “tr” sounds, Cannaday pronounced like an “f.” If we were in the park and he noticed a tree he would point from his stroller and say, “Fee. Fee Mommy, Fee,” and I’d gently reply, “Yes baby tree; that’s a tree.” If we were watching a train pass he’d shout, “Fain! Fain, Mommy, fain” and I’d say, “Yes baby train; that’s a train.” For Cannaday, recognizing an object he could say for the first time was super exciting, like finding the prize inside a cereal box. One day. I was pushing Cannaday in a shopping cart towards the checkout lanes in K-Mart. It was a week day afternoon but the store was crowded. Every lane had at least 5 people in line. ...