My friend, Sunil, passed away on May 1st, his 36th birthday, after a long fight with cancer. I will never forget reading Mandi's text and feeling so helpless. What could I do? What did Mandi need? How was I supposed to be there for Mandi from so far away? All I could think about was how could I help Mandi. I wanted to fly to New York for Sunil's funeral, but my finances have been quite tight. It was going to be impossible to be there in person. I felt like I was letting Mandi down. I knew that Mandi was going to have a strong support system from the family and friends that did got to NYC to be with her. That thought was really the only thing that set my mind at ease. When I did get to talk to Mandi, she said she didn't expect me to be able to come and she knew I had my kids in Minnesota to spend time with. WOW!
After the funeral, Mandi came home to Minnesota. It has been awesome to spend time with her! Hailey and Ezzie love her so much! We ate dinner at Mandi's mom's house and enjoyed time with the dogs, cats, bird, and Dayna (Mandi's sister). They fell in love with Dayna! Mandi's mom was also a big hit, especially when she showed them her bird!
Ezzie LOVES the Wii. We don't have one at our home, but his Grandparents and dad both have one at their houses. He was thrilled to find out that Mandi's family had a Wii at their house. It was really cute, because he chose to play Sunil's character. My kids met Sunil a few years ago when they were quite little. They would have adored Sunil and his bald head! (When I have showed them pictures of Sunil, they think his bald head is so cool!)
The kids were having so much fun and needed to burn off some energy. We decided to take the dogs for a walk and the kids were super excited! Needless to say, I think the kids were the one taken for a walk. The dogs ran while Hailey and Ezzie were dragged behind! There were a couple of times when Dayna or Mandi had to come to the rescue and to give Hailey and Ezzie a break!
After the walk, we sat in the backyard and colored pictures to hang on Mandi's mom's fridge. Of course, the kids love to color! They also were able to spend some time playing with the dogs too!
After a very eventful night, we had to go home and get to bed. The kids were exhausted and so were the rest of us, including the dogs! We snapped a couple of funny shots before we left. Many thanks to Mandi's mom for letting us come and mess up her beautiful home!
No comments:
Post a Comment