Peace of Mind

Thank you for your sweet words yesterday. I read through your comments yesterday afternoon and cried. And then I looked at some pictures of Krissy and watched some DVDs and sobbed. Spenser thought my sobs were laughs and she laughed "along" with me. Then I sobbed louder and she laughed louder. And then she saw my tears. She was so very sweet. She wiped my tears and put her arm around my neck and her face next to mine. I needed to have a "cry-fest," as Joe calls them. After a little while, my tears dried and I was left with very crunchy and clumped eyelashes and a headache and nausea (from stress).

I spent a good portion of my day with my family. I had breakfast with my mother, three sisters, one brother, three nephews, one niece, and Sawyer (while Spenser was in preschool). Later in the day my entire family got together for pizza, including two more brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, etc. We ended the evening at the cemetery. The cemetery has been cleaned up and there are little traces of the recent vandalism. My brother and sisters did a great job of cleaning Kristen's headstone.

Thank you, dear friends, for your kind words. They mean the world to me and brought much peace and comfort.

Over the years I have grown increasingly paranoid of something happening to my children. Abductions, kidnappings, getting lost, etc. Our local sheriff's office has distributed Child Identification Kits throughout the community, including the boys' school and I've always wanted to do them.

On Monday night for Family Home Evening (a once-a-week family night suggested by our church) we finally put them together. It was simple with two adults. We weighed and measured each child. Took hair samples (with roots intact) and fingerprints.


We filled out the forms with identifying marks (scars, birthmarks, distinguishable moles, etc.) and attached current photos from vacation/the first day of school. We still need to have our dentist fill out a section for each one.

And because Joe's stuff is already on file because of being in the Army, we did mine, too. I'm still waiting to find a nice picture of myself. I always tell Joe and Taylor that if anything ever happens to me, they better use a nice, in-focus, complimentary picture of me for TV, etc., or I will come back to haunt them.

It's such a good feeling to have these on hand. I can't believe we waited so long to do it.

Comments

I missed your post yesterday so didn't leave a comment. I am so sorry about your sister. She will never be forgotten.
V and Co. said…
wonderful idea, thinking of doing the same.
i didn't know your husband was army too. hmmm

i'm glad you got to spend such and emotional day with family. strength in numbers, i'm sorry for your loss.
Brenda said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brenda said…
That is a great idea. You seem to have a very close knit family. Seems to be a lot like my family. We all live near the same area and have Sunday dinner at my house or my Mom's after church.
Kat said…
It is so nice that your family came together. I really need to do my sons indentfication card too.
Karyn said…
Your family sounds like one great big support group. You are very lucky.
Anonymous said…
Smart woman. We need to do that. I had a momentary scare over the weekend when Eliot disappeared from the shoe department in Kohl's while Tim was trying on. He was soon found in the toy section on the opposite side of the store, but still.... about a million different scenarios went through my head, none of them good.

I'm glad you had the support of your family yesterday. Your love will always keep her with you.
Katie Jean said…
What a sweet girl that Spenser is. I am glad that you were able to be with your family yesterday. I think we all need "cry-fests" too, and perfectly o.k.


Those Identification kits look great. I'm going to have to look into that for Isaiah.
misschris said…
What a good Family Night project! I know how good it must feel....
onegirliegirl said…
It's always nice to have a good healthy cry! Never any good to hold that in :)

Thanks for the reminder on getting our kids id'd. It's so important these days!
melissa said…
Yes, I have a big fear of abduction as well. I had a horrible nightmare about my son the other night, and I woke up so appreciative that he was safe in his bed.
Amanda Jean said…
I'm glad you made it through your difficult day yesterday. Spenser sounds like a little honey. My son would have done the same exact thing.
hooli said…
How very C.S.I.
It's always good to be prepared. But as saintly as your family is, I'm sure there are angels watching over you.
Anonymous said…
what a sweet little girl you have.

the horror! can you imagine if something ever happened to you and your husband takes out the "surprise just got out of bed" picture and its all over the place? tv? newspaper? telephone poles? if there is ANYTHING worth coming back for - that would be it. paybacks for sure.

seriously, i need to do this too.
Anonymous said…
laura, thanks for being so sharing of yourself & your family. those pictures really show so much of who she was - there's an interesting strength in her sweet little-sisterness, isn't there? sending prayers & love.
Anonymous said…
It's such a wonderful idea. I just wish we had something like it in the UK. As it is police have to go through hair brushes and things like that as there just is no system. I would love for there to be a database of DNA taken when a child is born and kept by a totally secure 3rd party. Hubby though, being a teckie said that somehow though that criminals would find a way to change their details or people would want to use it for paternity reasons etc. It's such a shame that people think like that. Ithink you are doing the most sensible thing you can for your children.

Sympathies on the photo for yourself- I look like the troll the bridge forgot or the half stoned hippy in front of a camera. :-)

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