In the car this afternoon with Ry & Ri, Ry mentioned that he missed Daddy. I agreed and said that I missed him too, but we need to remember that he misses us just as much as we miss him. I reminded them of when Lane (Dad/Daddy/Uncle Lane, depending on who’s talking) said on the phone the other day that the hardest part of his Army job is being away from us.

Then, Ry added frankly, “You miss Uncle Nathan, too.” I reassured him that I definitely missed Nathan a whole bunch.

At that point, Ri popped up and asked, “Do you miss him more than Uncle Lane?”

Whoa.

I thought about it for a second and answered, “No, not really more … just differently. I miss both of them a lot, but I’ll get to see Lane again when he’s finished with his Army job, and I won’t get to see Nathan until it’s my turn to go to heaven. It’s just a different way of missing them both.”

They seemed to accept that, and the conversation quickly morphed into fantasizing about things they’ll be and do when they grow up.

I came across this photo [from about four and a half years ago] in an old flash drive tonight. It made me smile, so I wanted to share it with you. Gosh, I miss his hugs!!