Christmas 2013

We spent this Christmas in Ohio.  It was a quieter, sadder Christmas than we've ever had.  It was hard to find joy when we were one family member short.  Losing someone you love unexpectedly and, in your mind, too soon, really challenges your faith.  To make sense where there is none, or even harder, to make peace with decisions that were not your own but impact your life so greatly.

From the time I was little I've heard in church that we do not know the number of our days.  We are told to live each day to the fullest and love each other like it's our last day here.  Hearing those words so often it's easy to become numb to it's powerful message and the day-in-day-out monotony of life leaves us to assume tomorrow is a sure thing. The loss of Zac has left me thinking about that powerful message and questioning if I do live my life to its fullest.  I think, in his short twenty-five years, he lived three lifetimes-worth of adventure and excitement.  In struggling to find a way to honor a life that was cut too short I have come to the conclusion that the best way to honor Zac is by living my fullest life.  A life that is filled with good and love. A life that he'll be proud to watch me live from heaven. A life that, if today is my last day, I can be proud of what I've accomplished--what I've left behind.

 Zac, me, Jon.  Summer 2008

Zac is the tallest person in our family and I'm the shortest.

I'm not even sure he was finished growing in the picture!

Our family has grown to such numbers that when we all go home we stretch the homes to capacity.  It was time to make a change, and this year the change kinda fell right into place.  Four of us went in together to buy a house in Versailles.  It's an old, old house, about 134 years to be exact.  It's the perfect location for us out-of-towners in that it's right in town, giving us close proximity to everything around us.  It's across the street from the famous Sweet Shop and even shares a back alley with Sideliners Bar and Grill.  It needs some minor updating (think wallpaper paneling, drop ceiling, and mauve sinks) but it will house for us all and will make for a fun place to just be a family. 

It seemed like a no brainer to call our new place, Zac's House.  We don't want Zac's name to be one that isn't spoken; we want his name, his memory, and his life to be thought of and said daily.  Zac was a happy, fun-loving guy who always had a good time.  Those are all the things we want Zac's House to embody--happy, good, fun, and love.