My Gentle Giant is having quite a difficult day. He is having trouble breathing, and it is to the point that if he gets up, he really struggles. He is also depressed, says he is sick of being sick, sick of worrying about his job, and sick of trying to live with the fact that two of our children are gone. I don't know what to do about this, I just tell him that I am here for him, and try to be upbeat. Part of the problem is that he tried to clean out the garage attic today, and it was too much for him. Our sweet nephew David and his son Shane came down and did it for him, but while directing them, he came across pictures, clothing and other items that belonged to Bobbie Jo and Otto. Things he has put away, and can't bear to part with. I try so hard to deal with the loss of our children, but I forget that Martin struggles as much or more than I do. A part of my heart will hurt until I hold them in my arms again, and I know he feels the same way. We are different in our sorrow, mine is the sorrow of a mother who has spent nearly all their lives with them, each day taking care of them, counseling, nursing, teaching and so forth, and Martin spent most of their lives providing for them. He worked, and worked and worked- and worked some more to be able to give the children and me what we needed. He feels he missed so much time, and now, cannot even be with them. I don't know how my Gentle Giant deals with the pain in his life, I am helpless to alleviate that pain. I will do as I have done for almost 40 years, just love him and be his best friend with all that entails.

Oh, and by the way, shame on a Walmart that I don't usually go to. I went to price match some items, and for the most part, it was okay, but the check-out clerk took it upon herself to challenge me on some of the items. Fortunately, I had the sales papers with me, but she insisted on taking the papers, perusing them carefully and then pronouncing whether or not she would "allow" me to get the price match. I got fed up, and told her to keep the items in question. Aunt Cheryl boldly and loudly let her know that the ads on TV do NOT require proof of the price match, and anyway, the store is supposed to have all the sales papers if they want to challenge them. I told the clerk that I am going to my own, trusty local Walmart, where I am NEVER challenged! So, I did. As usual, I was treated with courtesy, and was able to price match meat prices that were 5.05 a pound at Walmart, but were sold to me for the sales price of 2.37 a pound at another store. I don't know why I even go anywhere else for heaven's sake.

One thing I bought a bunch of was fresh asparagus. It was 1.00 a pound at Krogers, and Walmart let me match it. I bought 24 pounds! What do you do with 24 pounds of fresh asparagus? You home can it! Aunt Cheryl and I spent the whole afternoon canning the asparagus, and really enjoying our time together. Something funny though, I was trying to measure each spear exactly the height of the canning jars, and as I did, I was wasting quite a bit of the rest of the spear. Cheryl watched me for a moment, and said, "Why do they have to be perfect? Why not just break them into smaller pieces and use all the the good parts instead of wasting it?" I felt like a complete dummy. Why not break the spears into smaller parts and use as much as possible? I had already trimmed away the tough lower parts of the spears, and it would be a shame to not use the rest. See, like I said, I have no common sense. After that, we snapped asparagus spears into usable pieces, filled mason jars and pressure canned them. We didn't get them all done, but will continue on Monday. It is really fullfilling to me to be able to use my knowlege like this, and at the same time, teach someone else.

Also, this morning, Becky took a hard fall with the baby in her arms. She tucked Little Joe tightly against her as she fell, and he didn't even flinch. She was climbing onto her bed, which is kind of high, and using a step stool, when the stool tipped and her feet slid out on either side of the stool, causing her to do the splits, and then falling backward and hitting her head. She hurt her big toe, bruised her foot and ankle, and banged her head. Well, today, as we were leaving the first Walmart, we came to a red light. It turned green right away, but Becky was looking at her foot and telling us that it really hurt. Then she looked up and saw the light was green, but at the same time, a car sped through the intersection and if she had gone ahead when the light first turned green, that car would have T-boned Becky's car on the driver's side! Because she hesitated by looking at her foot, we were spared what would most certainly have been a terrible accident. Aunt Cheryl said that Becky wasn't supposed to go right ahead through the light, and I said that Heavenly Father really protected us. It is too bad that Becky fell so hard and got hurt, but because of that, we were saved from what could have been a horrible tragedy. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I am looking forward to being at church. It is the highlight of my week, and a place where I can lay everything down for 3 hours and not worry.