07.28.04 � 12:07 pm

Can you believe it�s July 28th already? Where is the time going? Bri starts school in two weeks and Todd starts in three. I just can�t believe how quickly this summer came and went. I finally paid off the last $500 from the wedding. It feels great, but I�m so broke and ready for some financial aid to kick in. I can�t wait until Todd graduates and we can live comfortably.

My mother-in-law, Meredythe, is going to be here in a few weeks. Not sure if I told you, but Todd�s stepdad passed away three days after the wedding. It was very tragic. He had been diagnosed with cancer in January and had suffered through chemo and a complete leg amputation (the whole leg, even part of the hip bone). He was having a tough time healing, though they said they had removed all the cancer, his only obstacle was his reluctance to get out of bed and start rehabilitation. I imagine it was rather depressing losing his leg like that. Larry had such a Type A personality, always in control of every situation. He�d not always gotten along with Todd because of their being EXACT opposites. But after his illness, he took many opportunities to tell Todd how much he cared about him and how much he wished he could be like him. He told Todd that he considered him a son. He told me �you got the cream of the crop�. So�fast forward to the week of the wedding. Larry wasn�t able to attend because he was in the process of being transferred to a rehab hospital. Meredythe came and there was talk of Larry getting back to Texas in October for an A&M reunion. Apparently, the Thursday before the wedding, the hospital called Meredythe and told her that they thought Larry had a heart attack. On Friday, they called and said it was not a heart attack, but instead they had found his lungs were full of cancer, that he wouldn�t make it through the night and she needed to come home (home is in Florida). Meredythe had to make a decision whether to stay and see the wedding, or go home to her dying husband. She stayed. We didn�t find out about any of this until the day after the wedding, because she made everyone promise not to tell us. He died on Tuesday.

So�.it�s been hard on her. And it�s been hard on Todd. When he died, we were in Belize. He wanted to be with his mom so badly, but she forbid us from coming there. �Save your money�, she said. �I�ll be in Texas soon.�

So she�ll be here in a few weeks and we can�t wait to see her. She�s such a remarkable woman. So funny and so kind. And I know Todd will feel much relief when he sees her in person and can see with his own eyes that she is indeed, okay.

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