Life Will Never Be The Same

2 years ago...

My Aunt Carmen was crying at my father's memorial, because, "Life will never be the same again for them." Then, I didn't know how true that was; it can't ever go back to how it was. Oh and how I miss it.

My dad was always the most fun babysitter, which wasn't a usual occurrence for him. He enjoyed taking us for the “babysitting” shopping. The shopping list usually consisted of 5 different flavors of ice-cream, TV dinners, and Trix cereal, which were very rare delicacies in the Anderson home.

Hilliary at 5 and Rachel at 7 begged, “Dad can we make up our own recipes!?” And of course, he said yes. So Hilliary and Rachel would unsupervised make incredible new creations, which Skip (their dad) had to taste test. Rachel was usually declared the winner; actually, I don’t recall that Hilliary ever won. Although, it was a close call once with Hilliary’s Flintstone vitamin cake, but in the end Rachel’s honey muffins won.

There were also very perilous occasions when he babysat, which usually occurred while he attempted to cook. One disastrous occasion happened when he tried to make macaroni. Hilliary and Rachel were happily forced again to dine on TV dinners. Oh, and instant potatoes, he couldn’t quite manage that either. Cooking just wasn’t his trade in life. Once Rachel was 8 she was able to prepare their meals, and TV dinners, unfortunately, were no longer a part of Skip’s babysitting.

It is now 2 years later, to the day. My family is forever changed. Thankfully we children have gotten closer through all of this, but some things can’t be as sweet. I now have a step father and a step sister, who hopefully we can build some kind of relationship with. Although, it has divided our family and home is no longer home. The comfort of having a home, a place you are always welcome and loved was stripped away. It is a harsh reality of the consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin.