A few evenings ago at my sister’s house (I was sleeping in the finished basement) I was startled by a very large bat.  It flew into the enclosed laundry area so I shut the door.  And we had not seen it since.

I talked to my sister about it and she likes the bat.

They’ve had a few in the basement and when her husband kills one of them, she starts seeing bugs in the basement.  When there’s a bat, it eats the bugs.

She says, “Better the bat I can’t see than the bugs I can see”.

But then…I like bats.  Bats are the good guys.  One bat in one night will eat a whole grocery bag full of mosquitoes.

I left my mountain bike with my dad (along with Tom’s bike helmet) – and the stipulation that he doesn’t ride without the helmet.

the last time he rode a bike, this happened:

Admittedly…the problem was Dad doing something that shouldn’t be done on a bike (the seat was too hard so he put a pillow on it…when the pillow slipped, so did he).

the bike I left has really fat stable tires, is an adult bike (unlike the one he fell off) and has a padded seat.

‘When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.’ Billy – age 4

I know.

my time here is nearly at an end.  My sister’s family is going to be home sometime during the night.  It has been a good experience (although exhausting at times) taking care of my mom…and well…my dad also.

I’m looking forward to being home, and dreading it at the same time.   Nearly every night that I have spent at my house, I’ve talked to Phil.  He leaves a void – like the Grand Canyon, a huge gaping hole in my heart.