We miss her...

As we are walking out the door, Luke asks for a Werther candy.  Levi starts taunting him, saying that the schoko bon bons are better. Luke quickly fires back, "I don't care, Werther's are what Neena used to give me.

Funny what triggers a memory.
It's true. Neena would keep a jar of Werther's and the kiddos were free to help themselves. He misses her.

For Levi, when he sees the book, "Hand, Hand, Finger Thumb", he remembers how he would crawl into Neena's lap and she would read it to him in her sweet animated tone. Levi misses Neena.

Abby looks at pictures and is reminded of Neena's awesome cake decorating skills.  She misses her too.

Whenever we return from a trip is when I feel the ache.  We would always call Neena to tell her we had returned safely and then we would proceed to tell her all the details of our time away.   I miss her.

For Brad, I am sure it is the million little things that remind him of the fact that his mom is gone.  No cards with his name in bubble letters on the front, no one calling to wish him a happy "half" birthday and no Peeps for Easter.  He misses her very much.

 Of course these are all superficial things, but they trigger our memories that there there are no more candy jars filled with Werther's, no more opportunities to hear her read to the kiddos, no birthday cakes to be baked and no longer any phone conversations to be had.  

We all miss her...