What Sharla has to say at 1:30 am...

As anyone who has access to this blog knows I recently had shoulder surgery. Turns out shoulder surgery is relatively painful, AND when it is your dominant hand it is really inconvenient! Its been 2 weeks, and my doctor said I could work 4 hours a day, but my company said until the doc gives me a 100% release to resume duty I can't come back! This sucks, because we are a dual-income family, and without the 2nd income this can pose some, oh...issues...But, what do ya do....turns out I'm not super sure I could have really worked anyway...but, as He always has the Lord will see us through this too!!!

On another note. This Friday, October 9, is my baby brothers birthday. He would have been 29 years old. It has been 8 1/2 years since Derek's tragic death. It sees crazy to me it seems forever and yesterday since Derek died. But, since the very first birthday we had to celebrate Derek without his physical presence my family has chosen to CELEBRATE the day of his birth. No matter when or how my brother died, the day he was BORN will always be a good day! We have a wonderful birthday party for him every year. We go to the river (if you don't know, my brother was fishing fool, hence the river), then we throw flowers into the river. It goes like this: we each throw a flower into the river for the "man he was" and tell a memory of we have of him. Next, we throw a flower into the river for the ''man he would have been'' and say something we think he'd love about whats going on NOW. Then we keep a flower to remember him all day long. We also write a message on a balloon, tell him we love and miss him and release our balloons. It pales in comparison to celebrating with his goofy smile, and funny laugh as he reeked of too much cologne on his way to drink too much and party too hard, but it is still a celebration of who he was, and we rejoice in the fact he was born. My Momma, JoAn, Willie, Kyla, Derek, Aunt Cathy, myself, and sometimes my Daddy (its different for Daddy, and what makes it better or easier for us, doesn't for him)....afterwards we go to the Pumpkin Patch on Star Rd and the kids and Willie spend a fortune on pumpkins. All in all, as hard as it is...it is a good day. The day my little brother Derek Wayne Presley was born...will ALWAYS be a good day!