The past month or so has not at all been what I had expected. The Fraley family over the past few years is truly like a second family to me, they are amazing! Well, on the morning of June 5th I got word that the one of their boys, James, was in the ICU and the next day got the devastating new that their other son, Xander, unexpectedly passed away. While still laying in bed, I turned to Stevie and said, "I'm right that there is no way we can afford for me to go be with them, right?" and he responded, "I think we need to make it be alright." The following days were stressful as we tried to sort out the details of everything and dealing with the U.S. embassy to get my passport back (it had been there because of dealing with my name change). Finally everything was figured out, I flew out on June 10th. Stevie, being the amazing husband and father that he is, insisted that I head to Ohio for 2 weeks and that he would stay behind to hold down the fort. My awesome brother, Jeremiah stayed around the house an extra lot to help out. (Did I mention how incredible my husband is?!?!)
We got in late Sunday night (Taryn went too. She had been planning on taking a trip to the states later this year, but bumped up her trip considering the circumstances). Tuesday evening my dad did a beautiful marmoreal service celebrating the wonderful life of Xander.
Boy do I miss his smile!
 |
I even got to visit James in the hospital
I was so happy to get to spend some time with my in-laws, my sister and her family and a few friends. (Sadly, I just kept forgetting to take pictures so this is basically all of them
:( )
I absolutely hated the circumstances of me being there, but I had such a good time with everyone... but man was it hard being away from Stevie and the kids. I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with everyone. Please continue to pray for Guy and Amy and the kids as they continue to figure out life after tragedy.
