Statement in Progress

I have had to start putting my thoughts in order since the parole hearing is basically a month away. It took me quite a while to write my statement for the courts the first time. I started by just putting thoughts and feelings down, not sure exactly what I wanted to say. I changed my whole concept multiple times before I came up with what I read in court. At first I wanted to share our whole tragic day from start to finish so Ryan Sundermann would hear the pain inflicted on all of us. I scrapped that and went to writing about our lives with Abrielle because I wanted people to know her. I decided this was not what I should do either and finally came up with what I tearfully read in front of everyone. Here is the link to what the paper published and it's pretty accurate. http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/news/x1470892480 So, since this is part of the case record, I have to start all over with a new statement. The parole board will have the first statement to read as part of his record. The good news is they will see my request to have a picture of Abrielle in his cell and can make a decision on that since the judge didn't. I have found a quote from Mark Twain that describes our grief quite well. He lost a daughter to meningitis and said, "Losing a child is like your house burning down. At first you're crushed by the calamity that the house is gone. And then, over the months and years to follow, you remember all the precious and irreplaceable things that were found only in that house. The ripples of grief stretch out of sight." This may even end up in my statement somewhere. It is just so true. We received a letter in the mail giving us instructions for the parole hearing and a map of the facility. Just seemed to make it that much more real that he could get out and be free to live his life while ours is still full of grief for our little girl he selfishly stole from us. I'd better end now, because I can sense the anger coming out and that's not what I want on here even though that is still an emotion we have to deal with.
~Brenda

Plush Cuties

My toy rep for the store (yes, for those of you who don't know, Coop sells toys) sent us a HUGE box full of plush that she had for demonstration models. They are so adorable and every one is super soft. I could just snuggle these all day myself. The t-rex has eyes that light up and he roars, the elephant flattens out to be a pillow, the duck quacks a tune and the bat plays a spooky song. These are just a few of the toys we were sent. There were also plush pony purses and soft baby dolls and loads more cuties. A big THANK YOU to Lillian for sending us these. The kids will absolutely love them (I know I do).

It's Going to be a Long 2 Months

I had to go to Walmart last night for diapers and a few other things while Mady was at dance. I was greeted by a tall Christmas tree in the entry. Not what I was expecting since it is barely November. I did venture back into that dreaded section to find some ornaments for Abby's tree that we will be putting at the cemetery. They had some small rubber Princess sets and Cars sets. I called Marc to ask which one and we just decided to get both. I left that section in tears. After venturing out into the store to get what I really came for, I heard the Christmas music playing. I'm not sure why I didn't hear it before, I guess I was thinking of everything I needed to get (had a list for a girl scout project that I was preoccupied with). The music just made everything worse. I hustled around to get what I needed so I could get out of there. Needless to say I am not looking forward to the next 8 weeks.

On another note, all the positive thoughts must have helped because JackJack has finally started eating! He had eaten his bowl full of food by this morning. I am so relieved! If something happened to him I know I would be a mess. I promised Abby.

~Brenda

New Organ Donor Law

Missouri has adopted a new organ donor first-person consent law. This is huge for organ donation. This means that now your first-person consent makes the decision final unless revoked by a manner provided by law. Your decision will be honored and family consent is no longer required. Before, even if you had everything in place for donation, a family member had to make the final decision. Sometimes potential donors wishes were not carried out. Now you are in charge. This is such a wonderful change and hopefully it will improve more lives through donation.

Get Well JackJack

Our JackJack is not himself. We are puzzled as to what is wrong. I switched his cat food 3 weeks ago, but he had been eating it up until last week. One of Mady's morning chores is to feed the cats and that includes JackJack. Finally last Thursday she told me he had not been eating his food so I'm not real sure how many days this had gone on. So I dumped out all the food that was in his bowl thinking maybe it had gotten wet or something and put all fresh in. Well, this didn't work. He still didn't touch it. Then on Friday the poor guy got diarrhea...not a good thing for an inside cat, but thank goodness he made it to his litterbox every time. Saturday he still wasn't any better so I called the vet and had Marc get him some medicine and some of his old kind of kitty food, hoping this would fix everything. No luck. He has been 4 days eating on what he normally would eat in one and still having loose stool (ew!). So another call to the vet today to try and figure out what's wrong with my furry boy and we were told to bring in a stool sample (ew again) tomorrow to make sure there's nothing going on that can be told from that. When I was talking to the vet, we were going over anything that might have changed other than his food, anything different or stressful in the house. I remembered that JackJack went with me into Abby's room that weekend when we cleaned Mady's room. This was the first time he had been in her room. He was sniffing around and I had to pick him up and carry him out because he was too busy nosing around to come when I called. I know animals are pretty smart. You hear of them not eating and things like that when their owners are away, so I don't know if JackJack is just sad, missing his Abby. Don't know, but I sure hope he gets over this soon because I think it is contributing to my not sleeping again (among other things). I promised Abby I would take care of her JackJack so I can't let anything happen to him (hence the reason for an inside kitty now). He was just really special to her. I'll let you know what we find out from the vet, and if anyone knows how to make a cat un-depressed (if this is the problem), please let me know. He's pretty special to us.
~Brenda

Haircut Success!

Sunday was a HUGE success! There were 5 stylists that volunteered their time and did 57 cuts in the 2 hour time period. They raised over $530 for the Foundation! There were people lined up from the time we got there until the end. The stylists were worn out by the time it over. Three people also donated to Locks of Love. Randi Nielson, Hadley Mundorff, and Ina Weese each gave over 7 inches of hair. Talk about a makeover.

Elly also got her first haircut. She was not too sure what was going on. Mema held her while Grandma caught the hair. We tried to help out by sweeping the floors so the stylists would not have to. Sometimes we weren't too sure if we were helping or in the way since they were moving people through so fast.Kelly and Virginia cleaning up.Shannon and Mady sweeping.

Here are is everyone that volunteered to make this happen for us. Be sure to thank these guys when you see them.

Haircut Reminder

This is your reminder.....Whether you're in need of just a trim or looking for a whole new style, come to Guys & Dolls on Sunday to support the Foundation. From 2-4 pm you can receive a 1/2 price hair cut and the proceeds benefit ANF. There are no appointments, it's just first come, and unfortunately there won't be time to style your new do, but that way they can serve more clients and raise more money for us. I know we are all getting our hair cut (and yes that means Elly too - her first), so come help raise money for the Foundation while getting a service done that everyone needs anyway. Here is a link to their website. http://www.guysanddollshair.com/
Hope to see you Sunday!

~Brenda