Christi is my hero. In so many ways. I could go on and on about her patience with me, her intense love for her children, her ability to to provide meals for a small army on a daily basis, her organizational abilities in putting together paperwork for our adoptions, her innate desire to look for the good in everyone, her knack for making all of her kids feel important, her ability to help kids with homework in every subject under the sun, her artistic talents which are often on display as she helps with said homework (thank heavens the kids don't have to depend on dear old dad for their posters/book reports/art projects/etc.!), her pure love for Elli in spite of all of the challenges that go along with severe autism, her charge-in-and-take-care-of-the-mess attitude when it comes to a particularly difficult diaper disaster, her tenderness, her toughness, her fantastic kissing skills, her ability to play pretty much any song on the piano the first time she tries it, her efforts to provide an incredibly safe and loving environment in our home, her prowess at mini basketball shooting games and so many, many more areas in which she excels.
But today Christi is my hero because she managed to get our kids through the last week of school with me gone for six straight days. I had to fly to New Jersey on Sunday and spend all week at our corporate office for training. Somehow she got everybody ready and off to school each day. She got Lexi ready for her bus by 7:15, herded four junior high kids out the door by 7:25 for their carpool, drove Jesi and Xander to elementary school by 7:45 and got Elli all ready for her bus by 8:15. Every morning this week! What did YOU do every morning this week? I'm guessing it wasn't quite as draining:) My efforts at work were certainly not even in the same ballpark as what she had to manage at home! Once she got everyone off to school, she then had to keep Conner and Sophi occupied for the next seven hours. And after school there were practices, music recitals, youth activities, homework, and who knows what else in addition to the everyday demands such as dinner, dishes and bedtime. I am, indeed, married to superwoman. To top it all off, I am quite certain that when I arrive home this evening, the house will be spotlessly clean and full of an extra dozen kids or so. Somehow she always manages to get the home looking amazing when I get back from a trip. And today was the last day of school, so she let the kids invite friends over for a late night. What a woman:) I love you, sweetie!
-Jer
PS. Today is the ten-year anniversary of Tiffany's death. I miss my sweet little sis, but I'm confident in the knowledge that she is in a much better place. I truly believe she can look down and see our little family and that what she sees makes her happy. I think she occasionally throws some assistance our way as well. Thanks, Tiff. I look forward to catching up some time in the future. Love you!
