A Busy Day

I took Tye with me tonight to MHS Honor's Night to present the certificates to the two recipients of the First Annual Brian Halley Memorial Scholarship. He was so adorable, and his charming whit reminds me of his daddy. I am blessed to have him with me.

Congratulations John Seipel and Chayse Barr! I was very touched by both of these young men's essays about how cancer has impacted their lives, and changed my mind to instead give two $350 scholarships.

I survived the day. Today was preschool day in the lunchroom, my first big single parent outing. Tye announced at lunch that he wanted to go on an airplane and get his daddy and he wanted to go home and play with him. I think his thoughts were sparked by us being surrounded by other kids and their dads. I looked at him and said...so do I.

Brian's monument is finished, and I'm guessing it will be set next week sometime. I am very pleased with it, and am happy it will be up and his grave will be properly marked for Memorial Day, and forever. I went to see it today, and it was amazing to have the day of his death etched in stone; to see my name there, waiting; to see our children's names carved in the back...amazing in the sense that this is all happening because of a damn mole. Amazing. Evil. Devastating. Unfair. Real, very real.

Then I made it through my so-called speech this evening infront of a large crowd of students that were probably nearly 100% either a former student of Brian's or a former student of mine, along with their parents. It was nice to have the chance to tell them thank you for their support over the years, and especially this spring. It is overwhelming to me to think how much the Maryville community has helped our family, and I am very blessed to have the love and support of such a great group of people.

Lots of people continue to need our prayers...Kathy W., Geoff and Herb and Michelle and Dave and Mark from MPIP, and all the others in the battle.