Since arriving in Tulsa, and as our schedules allow, we have been jogging/walking. When the girls arrived, they did likewise. I am proudest of Lauren who established a daily schedule, and stuck to it. She and Whitney set up a three mile course, and ran it regularly.

At this point Deanna prefers to walk. She and Lauren found a track across the street from where we currently live. Deanna has taken to walking their frequently. She was doing so last night, this time by herself as we are all now in Indiana.

Years ago, when BJ was little, he and his mommy were noticing a sunset together. Standing out vividly above the palette of colors that evening, was a shade which Beej particularly noticed. He commented on it to Deanna. She was so tickled that he even recognized the word and its corresponding color at that point, that she wrote it in her journal. BJ had spied the color "teal" and pointed it out. Deanna never forgot.

As a family, in the last year we have certainly become aware of pink sunsets. They have often come at unique and sentimental times for us. The color never meant near as much in his life as the life it has taken on in his sickness and death. Rusty said it well at his funeral celebration when he stated that "this color thing has gotten out of hand, and has come back to bite him."

Even so, it continues to bless us, and we continue to notice.

Last night, Deanna decided to walk an extra lap at the track. She knew it was getting late, and she needed to move quickly. This was not easy as she was tired, but she wanted to make this last trip around.

She rounded the corner and was met as she did by a sky which stopped her in her tracks. As the sun slid behind the clouds at horizons' deep, projected into the skyline was the intense color of pink. It sashayed above the treeline, and just to make sure she noticed, on this one year anniversary of his entrance into the hospital, a solid pocket of crisp teal hung just above the descending sun.

"Goodnight Mother," it seemed to say, "I love you."

On this blessed note, the conversation she had been offering up to BJ and her Father in heaven, concluded.

brent (dad)