April 18, 2015. Madison, Ms. Happy Memories.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of our Andrew. Christina and the girls, along with friend Polly, made dill pickles. It was Polly's idea. She knew that Andrew loved dill pickles and that he made his own, so last evening, they made dill pickles together and had a happy time. Andrew loved dill pickles from the time he was a tiny child. If he ran out of dill pickles, he was always careful to save the juice so for a bedtime snack he would pour pickle juice over Ritz crackers, mush them down and eat them with a spoon. He was definitely an eccentric. Making dill pickles was a tribute to the memory of Andrew. Recently, Christina has been gathering pictures telling of happy memories of Andrew. Rather than mourn, they are affirming their love. Today at our house, Mary Frances was looking through a box of pictures and found a picture she had never seen before. It was of Andrew walking with Mary Frances with fishing poles in hand on the road from the pond at the farm. Both were beaming. Mary Frances looked at the picture and said immediately to Christina that this picture should be in our box of happy memories. We all agreed and we all smiled. MF did not weep nor did she look sad. she was just pleased to see this wonderful picture which brought to her mind the happy memories of her father Andrew. They are all wisely counting their blessings rather than focusing on their loss. Fortunately, of happy memories they had many.