Hello 3, Hello Hope

Three sort of snuck up on us; we bought a hot tub and that meant expanding the porch then of course Jynx thought it should be expanded more.  Oh, and since we were doing all this Jynx thought it would be nice if I built a bar for the porch.  With all of this going on, Little Man’s third birthday was upon us.

We took Little Man to his favorite restaurant, Tyler’s Tender.  Grandma Ruth, Grandpa Jim, Grandma Rosie and Auntie Jea Jea came for the fun.  Little Man of course had a great time running all over and playing with the trains.  Grandma Ruth did her best to keep up but I’m sure she slept well that night.  Little Man didn’t want to take a break to eat but ordered a “HOT DOG!” as he so famously says now and then ate the entire thing quickly.  Not only does he infaticaly say “Hot Dog!” but now he also says his name “Jay-A-Me”, everyone asks when did he become Italian?  After Tyler’s we headed back to the house for some ice cream cake.

We all slept well that night not knowing what the next day had in store for us.  I awoke the morning of July 20 and headed out to the store, I had the day off and Little Man’s birthday party was coming and I needed to complete some things around the house.  I arrived home and began working on railroad signs railroad crossing, Jameville, JJ Junction, JJS Railroad Double J Crossing and Bubba Falls to go with the water slide Jynx had bought.  I was doing okay but a bit behind on what I wanted to get done when Jynx’s sister yelled from the house “Rog!  You might want to be in here!” My first assumption was that Little Man was in some funny position like watching TV upside down.  I started heading to the house thinking I would only look quickly and get right back to work.  As I approached the porch Jynx ran out of the house tears in her eyes and the phone in her hand.  My stomach dropped as I thought of what possibly could be wrong.  Jynx started telling me but I could not understand her, about all I could make out was “Baby” and “Girl”, then she handed me the phone and she ran back into the house.  I placed the phone to my ear and it was Joanna our adoption counselor who explained that they have a beautiful baby girl for us and she was born on the 18^th and we could pick her up after 4 o’clock. 

We arrived at the hospital and met little Hope Rose Steele; she was perfect and hardly cried as we signed the paperwork and waited around for her final test.  The biological Grandmother asked to meet us and we naturally agreed, they could have asked us to walk over hot coals and we would have agreed.  She was a lovely woman and she told us about the birthmother and how she gave birth at home and even cut the umbilical cord herself.  We were able to get a picture with her and she got a picture of us.  We said our goodbyes and the adoption counselor walked out with her.  Later the adoption counselor told us she was happy and that we were a great family for the baby to go to, and that warmed our hearts.  Hopefully one day our kids will be able to meet their birth mom’s, they are our angels.

Unfortunately, Little Man was not able to come to the hospital with us.  Although in the months up to Jame Jacks birthday, we asked if he wanted a brother or sister and he always said sister.  After hours at the hospital and all of our paperwork signed, we loaded Little Hope into her car carrier and headed home so she could meet her big brother, Aunts, and Grampy Rock.  When we arrived at the house Little Man came running out to greet his Little Sister.  We placed her on the deck and he was laughing with excitement and even chuckled a bit more as Juno stopped to give her a sniff over.  He then ran over to the couch so he could hold her.

Our family is now complete and the adventures have just begun.  Jynx’s Dad has always said if you get a Boy and a Girl, you have a Million Dollar Combination!  Well, although we struggled for many years to have a family, this sure has been worth the wait. God always has a plan, thank you. Welcome home Hope Rose Steele.

Zeke

The time was just before Easter 1994 and I arrived home from work.  Jynx told me she had a surprise but didn’t want me to be angry.  I agreed and she led me to the basement where I saw a small black animal in the basement.  I couldn’t quite make out what it was; I thought maybe a rat, until I heard a bark and knew it was a puppy.  That was Zeke’s first day in our lives.  I still remember driving in the car and holding her in one hand.  Jynx and I were married later that year and the dog Jynx got as an Easter gift for me quickly became her dog.

Jynx and Zeke were inseparable; if Jynx left home without Zeke the dog would go into a deep depression. Zeke would go to work with Jynx to her landscape jobs and while smelling the new homes out, Zeke always was close enough and had an eye on where Jynx was.  Jynx rarely had to put her on a leash because she would stay where she was supposed to. When Jynx would drive, Zeke would stand in between the seats and Jynx would say “brake” and she would brace herself. Zeke was very smart and knew many tricks. Zeke even canoed and kayaked with us. We eventually got into geocaching, a sport that uses a GPS to find a spot in the woods, after we would find the spot; Zeke would lead us on the same path out of the woods.  It was always amazing how she would track us back out.

Zeke was with us through several changes in our lives from our co-op in Park Forest to our house in Dyer.  She was there for our cat Presley, and they were good friends and Goofy coming only to stay for a few nights then gone and back again until she became part of the family.  Zeke was with us as we lost Presley, they would play together. I still laugh at the thought of Presley holding on to Zeke as she ran up the stairs.  Zeke was there as tons of other animals came stayed for awhile then moved on because Jynx would agree to be a Doggy Hotel as friends and family went on vacation or for other reasons. Zeke was there when Little Man came home with us for the first time.

We tragically lost Zeke and life is definitely different now.  We brought Zeke home to bury her in our yard close to her friend Presley.  She was pretty and at peace when we saw her. As we dug the grave we did our best to hold it together for Little Man, Jynx was doing her best.  Little Man saw Zeke and then ran into the house to get a book to read to her.  Later Little Man ran into the house and brought out a picture with him and a train.  Jynx asked if that was for Zeke and he said yes.  He sat back there with her until I came to get her. As I placed her in the grave with her genius dog collar and one of her patriotic scarves Little Man then began to cry “Zeke go no!”  The tears started to flow.  I knew how much Zeke had touched our lives but I had no idea how much she had touched Little Mans life.  Jynx mentioned that she knew she would never have a dog like Zeke again.  Zeke really was her first baby.  We feel Zeke sensed that Jynx would very soon have a lot more to care for with our newest joy and that after almost 18 ½ years of a good life, she was becoming tired and ready for her new adventure in heaven. Goodbye old friend, one day we will meet again. Love you.