One Year Later

So, nearly a year has come and gone since my last post, now that's consistency! No excuses, just haven't posted. A lot has happened in the past year. Family members have come and family members have gone. Barb and I now live alone in our home in Connecticut, and while we still love it here, we sure do miss those little boys we raised, now young men, three of them married and dads, and Shawn about to begin his sophmore year at college. How old am I?

Last November we said goodbye for now to my mom who died in Jacksonville after a brief illness. It was hard. Hard for my dad, hard for my siblings, hard for me. Death sure is a tough enemy. But not the winner! Because of Jesus Christ, his victory over death, his resurrection, and because mom had faith in him, we are confident we will see her again at Christ's return, and that is truly a blessed hope.Mom's funeral at the Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park was a wonderful (if lengthy) tribute to a woman who was very influential in my life. She taught me love, she showed me patience, she blessed my friends, she encouraged my participation in sports and above all, she modeled being a loving wife and dedicated prayer warrior. All of her children attended her funeral and all of us spoke in the service (now you know why the service was lengthy).

The four Dean boys and one Melton (Dean) girl were all able to share this special time with dad. We each have our own memories and stories to share, its just hard at times to get them out without the tears that so easily flow. But we are all going to make it and we are planning to celebrate with mom again, perhaps very soon!

Since my last post we are excited to have added a new little Dean to our family. Last December, Robbie and Kelly adopted Eli Efrem Dean and he joined them in January of 2011. In February he turned 1 year old. What a joy to have Eli as our newest grandson, just wish he didn't live so far away. I did have the chance to meet Eli in person when Rob and Kelly brought him to Jacksonville where I had flown to attend some meetings.

He is a happy, somewhat shy, fun loving little boy. We look forward to watching him grow into a great young man. I love the picture below of when I first got to meet Eli at a Chick-Fil-A in Jacksonville, FL.

The other big news in our family is that after 5 years of living as a family in China; David, Marianne and Sarah (she is only 2) have moved back to the US where David will start law school at Washington University in St. Louis in late August. We were thrilled when their flight to Dallas from JFK in New York got cancelled and they got to spend a night with us before heading on to Dallas. How Sarah has grown! Barb and I both loved getting to see her and enjoy her company. (Yes, it was nice to see David and Marianne too.)

How much joy is ours when we can be around our grandchildren and watch them grow and develop their own personalities. We are looking forward to more such times in the future.