October 3, 2017

Today is the day we found out that my gentle, kind brother-in-law, Jaron, has a large tumor in his brain.  This devastating news has rocked us to the core.  My heart has broken a million times over for my dear little sister, Joni.  Six years ago, Jaron's little sister, Amy, died from brain cancer.  And Jaron's mom, Malinda, is still recovering from her own brain surgery to remove a brain tumor.  Something so terrible is happening to the Allred family.  It is almost unthinkable that one family could have three members suffer from brain cancer.  It feels absolutely terrifying.

Everyone is in shock, and my sister Joni is not okay.  But we are all rallying around her the best we can.  We are pleading for a miracle, and pleading for comfort.

The other day Joni told Malinda that we were all praying for her.  Malinda quietly whispered, "Your family is probably so tired of praying."  I love Joni's quick response.  It shows her deep and abiding faith.  She said, "Quite the opposite.  It is the only thing getting us through."

I just don't even know what else to day.  Today is a hard day.


On a much happier note, today is a very big day for the Jacobsen family!!  My adorable daughter Emma passed driver's ed and got her driver's license!!!  We had a good time and some hilariously stressful moments trying to pass off the final requirement: a trends and safety quiz.  Emma had to get 100 percent on 40 questions.  She had an unlimited amount of tries.  And I could help her.  We didn't want to take the time to watch all of the videos, so we just made our best guesses.  Then we laughed our heads off and tried again.  We were super crunched for time.  So it was a wild, rushed experience.  But somehow, some way, Emma finished and got her license.  I had her drive home and she did so great.

It's official!! And she's so cute!!!

She rushed off to volleyball and when she drove herself home, I couldn't have been happier.  This is a whole new world!!

To add to the excitement, tonight she asked a boy to the Sadie's dance.  We tied a super duper long string to some white balloons.  When he pulled in all the balloons, there was a note that said, "I'd be on Cloud 9 if you'd go to the dance with me!"  It was so cute.  And Emma and I had such a funny wild time sneaking up to his door.  As we raced away, laughing hysterically, Emma said, "Mom, that is my best high school memory so far."  I cried happy tears inside.  I love being a mom.  All I could say was, "Emma, I'm really good at high school!"  And then we laughed harder.  But it's true.  I have only the best of memories from my high school days.  I love seeing her experiencing some of those same things.  We fell into bed happy.

Life goes on.