When I was a young girl, my brother brought home a class pet from school; it was a duck named Peepers. Sometime thereafter our family brought that duck to live at this pond, just a few minutes from the home I grew up in. Every time we'd go to feed the ducks, my parents would say we were going to feed Peepers. And the funniest thing? I believed them. Why wouldn't I? The ducks were always there, ready for food, so of course Peepers would be there too. Now that I'm grown I know the whole story (that we took Peepers there, but who knows if we ever really saw the same Peepers again), it doesn't stop me from enjoying a childhood pastime with my own children.
After the outpouring of love, prayers, support and FOOD that came to my parents and family after my brother passed away, there was a lot of bread products left over that we just couldn't eat fast enough...even with all my family members (10 surviving children + 9 spouses + 28 grandchildren = a LOT of people) pitching in to help. Thankfully we came up with a way to put the bread to use by feeding the ducks at the same pond we visited countless times while growing up.
Wesley and Liliane were smitten with the excitement of chasing the ducks and seeing the ducks chase the bread. Something even more special than that was to see my family smile even though we were all heartbroken with having to bury my little brother just the day before these photos were taken.
While taking these photos, I remember looking through the lens of my camera and saying a prayer of "thanks" for little moments such as this--moments where we could find joy even with the burden of sadness, grief, and loss that had overcome our lives at the passing of our brother and son.
