So..how do you deal with death?

My grandmother passed away. She has been fighting various cancer's for over a year now, maybe even longer...so her death was not a huge surprise. We were not close, but I feel really terrible for my dad...I know they were really close and he stayed positive through all of her sicknesses. I am really greatful that she started going to church a few years back and even got my dad going. Is there ever the "right" thing to say? How do you explain it to your 4 and 5 year old? Its just a really tough thing to deal with and I fear that I have been sheltered from most of it though out the years...ugh!

Oh, Howard!

So we had a duck...yes a duck. His name was Howard. You know like "Howard the Duck", the movie, lame I know...but I liked so, hence the name Howard. Howard came to be because his mother abandoned him in our front yard, so like any normal family (i use the word normal here very loosely), we took him in. Danielle and the kids were his parents for a week...the played with him, fed him, took him swimming (in the kitchen sink or the dog bowl) Things were well in the Clanton household...then came last friday. Friday was not a good day for the Clantons, and an even worse day for Howard...Friday my poor little duck had his head closed in the backdoor! Jade had gone in the backyard to ask Danielle a question and when she went back in...slammed the door behind her (not realizing poor Howard was there) Fortuneatly the story does not end with my 5 year being scared for life by killing her beloved pet duck. Howard hung on. Howard lived! As the day went on he even progressed somewhat, but then regressed the next day. Realizing that he was not going to make it (he was unable to eat or drink) I was given the task of "dealing with it"...What does one do with a dying baby duck in the middle of the day on Saturday you might ask? Excellent question, thanks for asking! You take him to an Animal Hospital, drop him off and leave...knowing that they will either fix him or give him the proper treatment and let him go...either way, his chances with them were far greater than the alternatives! So, Howard was gone...now to talk to the kids...I them he got better and that I took him to place with other ducks that would be nice to him...I also pointed out that we had to take him there because we were moving and would have no place for him to go swimming when get got bigger since our new neighborhood does not have a pond...what else could i say? again...was not real keen on my 5 year old thinking she had killed the baby duck...

My poor wife...

I can't even imagine what its like to deal with me all the time...my poor wife manages to put up with me and most of the time has a smile on her face...she has been such a trooper in this whole moving experience and done her best to make it so that I am no inconvienced! God bless her! Love you honey!

Moving...

If being in the process of moving has taught me anything...its that I do not like to move...the whole notion of living somewhere else scares me...I don't like the feeling out of place, or like I may be making a mistake...i know that i have prayed about this move for years...i just need to now have faith that I am doing what God wants me to do!