Superhero Princess

Hi Dree, Today, we celebrated Grandma Char's retirement.  She worked at Osco Drug for 47 years.  I remember about 3 years ago when we stopped by her work, and we tried to surprise her by coming up a side aisle and sneaking up on her in the pharmacy.  We didn't surprise her because your yelp of excitement gave you away. We did the same thing today, but instead, Hannah made it all the way up the stairs into the break room to surprise grandma. You should have been there. Grandma has worked at Osco Drug since 1978.  She worked there since before she even knew Pop Pop.  She worked there since she graduated from college.  Grandma Char has the greatest work ethic of anybody I have ever known.  She has been a rock for Aunt Megan and I.  She taught us to work hard and to support your family. She is the model of consistency, and has been for our family.   You liked her for other reasons.  She was fun, she always wanted to play with you. As Ha...

Good morning Dree Today your mother and I are celebrating our 11 th wedding anniversary.   Many couples my age may say that the last “insert number of years here” were the best number of years of their life.   Maybe that is true for others, or maybe others are lying when they say that.   I’d be lying if I said that.   The last 2 years have sucked without you.   Mom, Hannah and I have changed a lot since you have left us on Earth.   Even knowing that you are in heaven doesn’t make it much better for me selfishly.   I miss your snuggles, kisses, and when you would say woo to us.   But I have learned a lot about your mother’s and my marriage in the almost two years since you have been gone.   First off, a lot of the stuff that I thought was important isn’t really.   Don’t get me wrong, I sweat the small stuff way more than I should (like not having my Iphone on this trip).   Thinking of you does help me sometimes.   So many t...

 Today has been 23 months and 5 days since I last held Audrey in my arms.  I have a lot of great memories of holding Audrey.  I also have a lot of memories of Audrey in the bathroom.  I have been checking off the summer "honey-do" list for Amanda, so today, I took a look at the jetted tub in our bathroom.  I had to take off the panel to access the pump and the filter for the tub to clean it.  When I took off the panel, I remembered that I had to reinforce the panel to the wall underneath the tub.   I remembered that there were extra anchors, 4 screws, double sided tape, and some putty to make sure that the panel stayed on.  It wasn't because it was lopsided or there was texture on the drywall that the panel connected to.  It was because Audrey used her whole force to pry open that panel anytime she was on the potty.  Sometimes it was her motivation to pull off the panel.  So, I attached it as hard as I could.  I think...

    On  September 13, 2025 , the  Superhero Sprint  will be back.  It has been quite emotional while doing tasks to make the run possible.  As I will share and have shared before- 5ks with Audrey were very important to me.  Running as a family, was very important to us, because it was something all 4 of us could do together, and it was even something that Audrey and I could do together.  During the weeks after Audrey's first diagnosis of West Syndrome (Infantile Spasms), Audrey and I usually both ran with her in the stroller around 5:45 in the morning before the sun was up (her eyes were sensitive to the sun due to the Vygabatrin (life saving drug). Ways to help on  S eptember 13, 2025 , Volunteer to help with the 5k Sign up to run the 5k! Sign up for Team Dree   Run through the neighborhood with all 4 of us in October 2019 (she was seizure free for the longest point of her life since her first birthday)  Audrey had cute sungla...

  We spent this Mother’s Day weekend in St. Louis for a short family getaway. We had nice time visiting the Gateway Arch, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis Zoo, and City Museum with my mom and stepdad, and sister’s family. St. Louis is also a place that we were able to visit with Audrey. Jeff, Hannah, Audrey, and I went for a mini-vacation in 2021. We stayed at the Union Station hotel and visited the Zoo and Arch and Botanical Garden together. We rode the ferris wheel and walked around downtown, playing at a playground and on the sculptures along Market Street. One of my favorite things we did was pick up Cheesecake Factory (a particular favorite of mine) and had a picnic at the botanical garden. Although it was a relatively cold spring break, that day turned out to be very pretty and all the daffodils and tulips were in bloom at the garden. I remember pushing Audrey through the Climatron dome in the double stroller we used and also remember her playing with the chime ...