Wednesday, March 28, 2012

To Remember....

I remember falling in love with Jaxson. He was just the cutest little guy ever. I never believed that someone so small could take so much room in your heart. As he prepares to leave on a mission, I am trying to prepare to have him gone. Not a small task.

We decided to put a world map up so everyone could "guess" where he will be going on his mission. I kept putting off getting the map. It was really hard for me. I even subtly tried to get someone else to get it. For me, this was one of the final steps that I was struggling with taking. Finally, I went to the map store. I was telling the worker why I needed it. Of course, I started crying. The lady looked at me and said, "Should we laminate this?" This laminated map hangs in our family room. I hung it on the wall and cried as I stared at it. There are  SOOOOOO many places he could go.
The other night we were looking at all the guesses. The conversation went something like this....

Jaxson:"Who guessed Sudan?"
Me: "Emmie"
Jaxson:(joking) "She must not want me to come back."
Emmie (who we didn't realize was even paying attention): "What? I don't even want Jaxson to leave." Her eyes filled with tears.

If you know Emmie at all, she rarely gets mushy. It was the sweetest moment. 
I never want to forget it!

2 comments:

AnneMarie said...

Having a missionary is AWESOME! You think your heart will break when they leave, but surprisingly, it doesn't. The blessings felt by your son AND your family will carry you through the difficult times of him being gone. You will anxiously wait for the weekly email because it's your lifeline to your son. The Christmas & Mother's Day phone calls keep you going through the rest of the year. And then, after two years, when he returns home honorably, you think your heart will burst from joy at knowing he's served as he was asked and grown into a man.

Well, at least that's how I feel about it. I hope you have wonderful times with your soon-to-be missionary before he leaves!

Shannon said...

bawling my eyes out and he's not even my kid!!! i don't know how you are going to do it! we will be here for you my friend!!! love that kid!