Day 93 and tracking my new life running solo....

                                         Last one on the bus this morning.

I remember seeing a picture when I was a young boy of 8-9 from the exhibition, "Family of Man."  It depicted a mother alone in dire straits with her children clutching her.  The caption said, "She is a tree of life to them."  My own Mother became a single Mom when I was 13, and I gained a greater understanding of the pathos in that picture that had impacted me as a boy.  Seems ironic now that when I met and married Barbara she was a single Mom with Samantha and Jazz, (see below) in the nest of her tree. Now she's gone and I'm a single Dad with four crippled birds still in my nest, and a whole flock of others in flight....some reaching for the sky, and others building their own nests , and all looking back to the tree where they learned to fly.

My perspective is so different now. My day starts and ends in the laundry room....where I pray, cry, and sometimes laugh. I thank God for the responsibilities that keep me moving forward and the understanding that this is what we both committed to in our covenant with God and each other. Every day brings new trials and concerns, but I've found that I'm seeing things and making decisions with her insight and wisdom in mind. And so I shall be that tree that is planted by the rivers of water where they each learned how to fly and know that not only their father's heart is there, but also through God's grace... their mother's.
In His grip,
Papa Tripp,