Caught Off Guard...

That's how I felt Saturday afternoon as I walked into Katie's house... perhaps it was because I'd never officially met her or her kids, or maybe it was that I'd never been to their home. But as I walked in, Katie's smiling face took my breath away as I saw a piece of Laurie in her... seconds later I noticed on all the wonderful "Sister" pics ontop of her TV... about a dozen pics of Laurie, Katie, Kristin, and Mrs. Barb. It was the first time I'd really SEEN Laurie since the funeral. I have pics here and there but (wonderfully) Katie's house was overflowing.
I wanted to say something, "Oh my gosh, you look like her!" or, "I love all the Laurie pictures", but nothing came out. And then Princess Maya walked over in her Belle shirt and Tu-Tu and said, "You're the princess, I want to see your pictures." Her precious little round face lit up just like her Aunt's used to as I tried to explain that, no, I don't actually LIVE in Disney World still... but I used to:) Eventually she figured out (after covering up the wig in the picture so you could only see my face) that I was in fact friends with Cinderella; we were so close, in fact, that she let me wear her ball gown when I lived in Florida :-)
Precious little Isaiah toddled over and just looked at me, then walked away. A few seconds later I was entertained with his new, "Mommy you're incredible" which sounded more like, "Moma u incwedible". Priceless.
And Denver, with all the excitement a 7 year old can muster explained that we'd be watching "The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl" later on, but first we should play some games.

The evening was so fun. Yes, a spinning chair flew out from under Maya and she got a fantastic bump (and Denver helped by grabbing a block of frozen cheese for her head!), yes we somehow managed to eat an entire bag of baby carrots between the 4 of us, yes we played soccer outside and Denver threatened to run away when we had to come in, and yes, we had a pajama pizza party while watching our movie; Isaiah DID fall asleep in his high chair while watching the movie (how can that be comfortable?), and yes, they actually went to bed (or at least upstairs) with little fuss... but what took my breath away, what stopped my heart were two things...

1. Maya caught me basically staring at a pic of Laurie and said, "That's Munch. She died because she wanted to, but she loves us very much. She's an angel now and she's in Heaven with God and her Daddy. She has no more body, just her spirit. It's not that she didn't love us, she just had to die." She looked at me to see if I comprehended and I said, "I know, Maya, Laurie was one of my friends, too" No words, no tears, she just ran into my arms and let me hug her.
2. I was praying in bed with Denver and Maya. I started out and then asked Denver and Maya to each pray. Maya prayed, "Dear God, take care of Munch because I miss her but you are her Dad now so help her be an angel tonight and give me good dreams." >insert lump in my throat< Denver continued, "Thank you for Anna because she played with us like Munch did and take care of Munch in Heaven for us." I hugged them goodnight, went and sat in the bathroom and for the first time in awhile, had a good cry...