Obligatory 'I've not written in a while' post.

Major, major updates from the 10 Clark.

We have been feverishly working to get the home together for our new arrival. Terri is looking more and more pregnant every day and I have been taking on more and more responsibility as the result.

We have been feverishly preparing the baby's room that used to be the computer/music room. i am typing this blog on a temporary table, which is the dog's crate.

I'm glad to get some momentum and ultimately some routine going, because i'm going to need to be 'on point' from when the baby comes until at least 2028.

Looking at that date is like looking back in time to 1992. It looks out of place and way far away.

So, that's the good news.

Here's the bad news:

We were getting ready for our seven hour marathon birthing class early on Saturday morning when I noticed that I had a message. I dried my hair off and received a call from my dad that was very urgent and serious.

I called him back and found out that a day earlier my aunt Joan had been killed in a car accident in Florida. She died instantly.

Now, this news was really hard to take, as we Fowlers last forever. Something like this doesn't happen to us.
I guess that's why they call it an accident.
Aunt Joan was really nice and had a great laugh and a sunny disposition.

She seemed to move around a lot, which only added to her mystery.

She was the second born of six kids and my Grandma Rose's first daughter.

She was getting ready to retire and enjoy her days in Florida.

I managed to pull through the birthing class with very little emotion and held back pretty well.

Memories started flooding in of Christmases at my uncles house, Aunt Joan laughing about something, seeing my entire family together for my grandma's seventieth birthday.

I called my dad back when I came home, got off the phone and started crying. I felt so bad for my father and felt so bad for my grandmother that it overwhelmed my emotions.

I will always remember her laugh and am thankful that she didn't have to suffer.