I Finally Replied. A Year Later.

I posted this photo last year on April 21st. Easter. We had spent the entire weekend doing yard work and small projects around the house and our home. After a full weekend of work, we enjoyed an unconventional Easter dinner that included shrimp cocktail and grilled fare. It was just Lisa, our kids, and myself. One of the best Easter weekends ever.

When I look at this photo, I get a little choked up because this was right around the time when Lisa and I began to sense that a lot of things had changed around us. Certain people. Demeanors. What was being allowed and tolerated. What was being neglected. 

I remember the moment when Lisa entered the kitchen with the platter of grilled food. I was sitting at the kitchen table giving our kids small bites of shrimp. When Lisa opened the door, they all ran to her. 

We always grill plain chicken and steak for our kids. It's one of their favorite meals.

We sat down to eat and ate with gusto after a hard day of yard work. 

I remember Lisa saying, "This is the last year..."

I didn't reply.

We cleaned up, took the kids out, and made the kids their Easter dinner complete with shrimp and grilled fare.

Later that evening, we enjoyed lots of family snuggle time. 

What Lisa said played over and over in my brain.

This. Is. The. Last. Year.

So.

Here we are today. 

The evening of Easter Sunday.

Our Easter weekend kicked off with a deep conversation over coffee yesterday morning.

The weather wasn't the greatest so we tackled a lot of indoor stuff.

Lisa spent a considerable amount of time downstairs in her huge woodshop today while I made our Easter dinner.

From upstairs, I could hear the drill and sander and other power tools.

It was music to my ears. 

Yesterday, Lisa took down all of the wall shelves in our bedroom. Instead of throwing the wood away, we decided to repurpose it into birdhouses. 

That's what she worked on earlier today while I made dinner.

We weren't able to fire up the grill because the winds were a bit gusty.

But...

When dinner was ready, we sat at the dining room table. 

In OUR house.

OUR home.

I remember the words she spoke last year.

This. Is. The. Last. Year. 

I finally replied...

"Last year was the last year. You were right."