September?

How can it be that Summer is over? I blinked and August was gone. Here's Alfredo enjoying an ice lolly, as he calls it (from Peppa Pig).

September...you seemed so distant and now you are here. Big things happening this month...some fabulous (like Alfredo's first day of preschool, The Creative Connection, and Art is You...Petaluma) and some, well, heart wrenching.

I didn't know when (or even if) I'd work up the courage or have the heart to tell you about what's on the horizon for our little family. It's a day we knew would come someday (we just didn't expect it so soon). We're going to court later this month about Alfredo's custody. What's scariest to me is that this balance we now have with everyone working together and everyone involved in his life will be forever upset. When lawyers are involved, you never really know. It will probably get a bit ugly. Our lawyer is confident things will stay as they are but, then again, aren't we paying him to feel that way?

You might wonder how Alfredo is doing? He's such a remarkable little boy...full of spunk and joy and passion. It's a gift just to be around him. Earlier this summer, quite unprovoked, he started calling me "Mama". He says it so sweetly, like a little baby. He's really just trying it on for size, saying it as he comes in closer for a snuggle. One day, when Alfredo and Rich came home from the pool, Alfredo swung open the door and called out "Mama! Mama!" as he ran through the house in search of me. Such a small thing for most mothers, I imagine, but it meant the world to me.

Anyway, send up a little prayer for us, will you? Pray that our will is aligned with His always, that we will remain open to His guidance. Pray that this storm we pass through, we pass through together.