Ella has asked me certain types of questions twice in the past week.  Each time she inquires of me it's always when we're alone and I'm helping her with some daily activity of life. "Why did God make me with SMA?" was the first question she uttered.  Of course, I hadn't an answer right at that moment...probably because I'm not too sure myself.  My answer came quickly saying, "I'm not sure, honey."  I continued to help her and she carried the conversation in a different direction...I obliged. Then, not two days later, she began to ask the same question.  But I suspect she knew what my answer was going to be so she stopped mid-question.  This time though, at least as she began to utter her words, I felt that I had to provide more than a "I'm not sure, honey" response.   But her words stifled in mid-air and she quickly changed the question to, "Isn't God strong?" A bit surprised at the question I replie...

Both Lindsay and I have wonderful memories of cousins from our respective childhoods. As I was growing up, I was surrounded by cousins from both sides of my family.  Traveling to Joliet, Niles, Evanston, Indiana and even Boston afforded me an opportunity to get to know my cousins and to play with them. Lindsay had the great fortune of seeing her many cousins often as she and her family spent holidays and vacations together.  They forged lifelong relationships that permeate their existences today, bringing all of them a sense of pleasure, nostalgia, and love. Ava, Henry, & Ella have their cousins, too.  From our hometown of Naperville to Chicago and out to Virginia there are special kids that surround ours.  Ages may vary among them but the connection they share with each other is indicative of the connection only cousins can have. One difference between Lindsay and my cousins in comparison to our kids' cousins is that one of the members in our kids' cous...