Brittney and I slept well last night and were ready for today. This morning was pretty normal and we took some pictures for it being the last day of Kindergarten. Brittney said her goodbyes this morning before I took them to Little Indians.
I did a good, long workout this morning to burn off the anxiousness before school ending at 12:30PM. We transitioned the kids this afternoon. Brittney and I have been overwhelmed by the number of friends and family who have reached out offering positive thoughts and supporting us. I don't want to focus on it just being the day that Trial Home Placement begins but that it's a day of transitions all of the way around. Ezekiel is no longer a kindergartner--but a first grader. It was his last day at Little Indians, and a transition day for the summer to begin. The details of the transition itself aren't super exciting or noteworthy. His friends at Little Indians gave him a huge group-hug, which is Ezekiel's "love language" and is something he will never forget. He loved being taken to school in a special way with his friend Chase and his mom, too. On our way out of school, Ezekiel was his boisterous self who was yelling "bye ______" (fill in the name of his friends. Our little connector friend would only end his time at Hallsville Primary School with no other way--than making sure he didn't forget to say "bye" by name to everyone he could. When I picked up Ashley from Little Indians, Ezekiel convinced me to let him come inside to have one last hug from Holly. It was bittersweet to pick her up and make sure Ezekiel had one last chance to say goodbye to Holly and his friends there one last time. One the way to the kids' house, Ezekiel asked when I was coming to pick him up, and I told him that we would see him soon but he was staying with his mom and dad. We played "We All Bleed the Same" and "I Have This Hope" the ride there--where Ezekiel said that "I Have This Hope" was his second favorite song after "Bleed the Same." We had other conversations on the way there about what he ate for lunch and did on the last day of school. Drop off was fairly uneventful in the actions itself because I do not believe it's goodbye forever. When I stepped foot in the door, though, I put down the last few backpacks and box and paused for a second and smiled when I heard "We All Bleed The Same" playing in their house, probably from KLove or something. Talk about God saying: I've got this. You may not believe that this actually happened....but I swear it did. I wish, now, I would have spoken up to Ezekiel and had him take note of it---to have Jackie and Grant be witnesses for it happening. The personalized "gift" that we did for Jackie and Grant was to put together a good-sized photo album with photos from the past year. I also wrote them a personal note in a card and gave that to them and made sure to make note of it separately of the rest of the stuff we dropped off. When I left, I gave Ezekiel a hug, "tossed" him in the air and caught him one last time. Jackie said at one point when Ashley got a little fussy and was reaching for me: I think even she understands what's happening. I think so too. :) Afterwards, I needed to run by the school for a school board errand, but I've talked in this post and others about music and how it impacts me. "Man In The Mirror" was my theme song for many years and still is in many ways. As I got in my car from the school, headed home, it came on the satillite radio. I take that as a sign of being told by God that changing lives doesn't start with anyone....but ourselves as individuals as the person in the mirror. It is a powerful message that was...again....timely ***sarcastic eye roll*** :) We've already continued to find stuff that we need to get to Jackie and Grant --- that we forgot to pack. When someone lives with you for a year.....it's bound to happen I guess. Brittney and I are holding up okay today. I have told friends this but I do believe that God is in control of this and that we will get to follow their journey of growing up to some degree or another. Now, it's time for us to switch our gears/mindsets. We don't really remember what life was like for us before kids. Relearning and re-acclimating to essentially the same thing as an "empty-nester" is what's next for us. Today, I'm thankful all of the encouragement we've received today. I didn't expect it and am speechless from it. Thank you. I'll probably follow-up with one most post later in the weekend with how we are feel and conclude this journey unless I have some periodic updates. I will leave you with some photos that are some of my favorite from the past year with the kiddos. Photos below include photos from the day they entered our home to today as their last day in our home. Until next time, Thank you for reading. Craig
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AuthorHallsville resident. Foster Parent. School board member. Politico. Jesus Follower. Cardinals Fan #MizzouMade Archives
February 2019
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