Brian's Last Day

Ken struck a deal with his ex-wife which allows for his youngest son to move to Texas with her. We do not know when Brian's official last day in California will be, but today is the last day we will be able to see him. At Ken's request, Brian spent the last two nights with us - OK, he spent tonight with us since he went to his church group last night rather than spend the time with his father.  Personally, I don't think that Brian is fully grasping that he is probably not going to see his father over the next couple of years, but he doesn't seem worried about it.

Tonight, Ken spent some time showing Brian how to make the soda pop stove for the ultra-light backpacking. 

It so hurts my heart that Brian's mom's happiness is more important than his relationship with his father and even his own education. I have done all that I can, but while they turn to me for the information (Mom never looked into the school she was transferring Brian to, so he almost lost out on AP classes in Texas), they blame me for everything. Apparently, the boys would all have a great relationship with Ken if it wasn't for me, his "new little wife" and her "bratty girls."  

There is no guarantee for what the future holds, but I know that my dear husband will hurt not seeing his sons. The eldest is busy in college and trying to figure out his future, but spending time with Mom is always the priority over spending time with Ken. The other two do not make the effort. Sadly, Ken's brain cancer will take him sooner than any of us want. What will the boys do when that happens? This time is precious and can't be replaced.

I so hope that the girls and I are enough for Ken. Cognitively, I know that the girls and I aren't truly to blame for what happened, but it stings nonetheless.

So, best wishes to Brian, and I certainly hope that things don't go as badly with his mother's new soul-mate as they did with the last one. May he still actually qualify for the Cal-Vet tuition waiver even with a Texas high school diploma. In the event that Ken and I were correct, I certainly hope he doesn't try to blame us or condemn us for not "fighting harder." We didn't have the money for the evaluation just as his mother didn't. He said he wanted to go, and he refused to 1) ask his mother to stay here or 2) live with us, so we had very little choice in the matter.

Best of luck to everyone involved.

Brian's Piano Recital

Brian has started to come around a bit more.  It's been really great for Ken to see two of his sons on a more regular basis, and we were happy to be able to attend Brian's piano recital a few weeks ago.  He had been over a couple times and practiced his piece on our piano.  He had some improvements to make, but he was able to understand what I had mentioned for him to try, and he said before the recital that my suggestions coupled with what his teacher told him seems to have worked.  While this was the last picture I took at the performance, it is the best and needed to be posted at the top of the page.

He was the first performance.  I hated that I forgot my larger camera, as my Coolpix camera didn't have the right flash, but you can get the idea.  So, you will have to enjoy the darker pictures.  Brian was nervous, but he managed to get through his piece without floundering, and when he did make a mistake, he continued on without appearing flustered, which was the perfect thing to do.