4 Weeks

The earthquake was four weeks ago today. To say that we've been profoundly effected by this is an understatement. We feel that the earth shifted under our feet -- figuratively speaking, that is, of course -- because we are incessantly conscientiously aware that the part of the earth on which we live did not, in fact, shake under us... which makes it just feel so very, very wrong to even mention the grief and despair and world-turned-upside-down-feelings that we are feeling here in the J-M household in these days since January 12. I really just don't know what to say about it. All I know is that I can't seem to find a way to bring myself back to acting like all is "normal" and o.k. when, really, it isn't. There is a lot going on with this, much of which I cannot write about on the blog. For now, we're just trying to live through this, since we know that there is no good or right way to try to live around it, over it, or under it. It is what it is. It is our life. And so we keep on with it.

Today I bought three copies of this special edition that Time Magazine recently put out. I bought them -- 1 for each of our children -- to put away with the special items that I'm collecting for them. Some day, when the time is right (like when they are 16 or 18 or 20), I'll give each of them a box of special meaningful items that I've been collecting for them over the years of their lives. For Kyle and Owen, over the past six years, amongst other things I've been storing away some special Haiti-related things. Never in a million years could I ever have imagined I'd be putting something like this into their boxes.