Hello's and Good-bye's

Its been a month of hello's and good-bye's. Two weeks ago, we lost Grandma Eckert; Great Grandma to the kids. She was 96 and fabulous. We went to Edmonton to celebrate her life with all the family. She truly left a wonderful legacy of faith and love. (I must say on a side note...Prior to leaving, we finished up both van grant applications and couriered them off (with the mail strike we could not trust the postal service to get it there before September). Each application prayed over before going into the envelope. We are trusting for big results!)

My Grandma's funeral was Friday afternoon. In lieu of flowers, donations were taken to put towards "Missions projects". Saturday afternoon, all of the family got together and had a BBQ in my Grandma's memory, it was wonderful. At one point in the evening, all my Grandma's children and their significant others met inside to take care of various details of Grandma's passing. My mom came out and handed me an envelope; inside were a number of cards and cheques. She told me that there were funds donated in Grandma's memory that were to go towards Karter's fund. I was moved beyond tears! I could not say a word, I was shocked! Not only because of the heart behind the donation but also because it was in honor my my Grandma. She loved her kids, her Grand-kids and her Great-Grand-kids...this would have been something she would have done herself. Although we said good-bye her memory will live on forever in us and in our kids.

Today was the last day of preschool for Karter. I found myself very emotional knowing that this was a season coming to an end. We had to say good-bye to his SEA Kelly; Karter loved Kelly and so did we, she was such a perfect fit for Karter. She was instrumental in pushing Karter to meet challenges this year and move forward in so many areas. We left after saying our good-bye's and giving hugs, there were tears streaming down my face but there is a new season on the horizon.

Along with the transition from preschool to kindergarten comes the transition out of the Langley Child Development Centre, where all Karter's services have come from, into the school system. So we have started to say our good-bye's to our therapists and consultants. These are the people that have been in our life for the past 3-5 years. Our physiotherapist Sandy has been with us since Karter was 5 months old. She has become part of our family, she has shared many hours in our home with us as well as at riding each week. It is hard to have to say good-bye to all these wonderful people. We are so thankful for them and the blessing and support that they have been for Karter and for us.

This afternoon we went to Karter's new school, where he will start kindergarten in the fall. We met with his new district consultant, teachers, occupational therapist, principal as well as his current consultant and physiotherapist. They call it the kindergarten transition meeting and that is exactly what it was, a transition from the current team to the new team. We talked about Karter, his strengths, past history and future goals. They in turn shared with us about their program and how the gradual entry into the program would look like. It was bittersweet, we were closing the door on one season but opening the door to a whole new season. We are so excited for Karter's new adventures in the fall, but we are sad to have to say good-bye to such an amazing team.

Many good-bye's and so many new hello's. I suppose that is what life is though, a series of seasons that come to an end in order for new seasons to start.

Wednesday evening Karter will graduate from Preschool. It is amazing for me to think that my little guy is going to school full time in a few months.