Good morning. It is 6:00 and i just got up. (late, I know. But in my defense, I was up late. Yesterday was a good day pretty routine. Workout, take Katrina, send boys off, get ready for work, work, come home. Help kids with homework, make dinner.

 Bryan is working a big project that is due Friday - the culmination of a term long project he’s been working on for history. We enlisted the help of my (graphic designer) friend DeDe who took my little idea of using vinyl to cut out the family tree names to use on the tri-fold board display… and she turned it into an actual vinyl tree that will cover almost the entire board and then the written parts will fill in any empty spaces around the tree. I think it is going to look pretty cool. She’s going to work on transferring the tree today, then this afternoon Bryan and I will attach the names and start figuring out what other data to to include and how to best lay it out around the tree.

 I’ve been reading the book “Like Dragons Did They Fight” which is a book put out by a group that helps people fight sexual addictions, but as I said yesterday, they let you know the principles apply to much more than addiction.  It has been interesting to read about the chemicals released in the brain that affect our decision making ability. I have been trying to read it from the perspective of ME - trying to battle my own addictions with food and exercise, and just keeping Aaron in the back of my mind - attempting to have great empathy and understanding. I think I have learned some good things… I’ll keep reading and keep applying the principles taught and see how it works for me, then i’ll have a better frame of reference to talk to Aaron (and the other kids actually) about it.

I actually had a good talk with Bryan about some things as we drove to Hobby Lobby to buy vinyl for the tree.  He had been in Aaron's room and saw the e-cigarette device, and he told me about it.  I talked to him pretty straight about Aaron's addictions and how he continues to try to cover up the pain in life with "stuff" instead of facing it and working through it.   I talked to Bryan about the importance of learning from others experiences - then you don't have to go through it yourself.  I am hoping that by being more upfront and open NOW, I can help prevent Bryan and Caleb making similar choices down  the road.  I am trying to help us ALL LEARN from Aaron's experiences.