Telling the Children last weekend was hard. We waited until we had received the information from The Alzheimer’s Association to tell Megan 17, Seth 15 and Andrew 14. We told Ash 18 earlier.
We explained that it wasn’t their fault. God wasn’t punishing them or us. As a matter of fact He is here with open arms crying with us. Nothing any of us had done caused this and at this time there is no cure. We expressed that many teens with this type of news want to act out sexually, with drugs or alcohol or by running away. We expressed we expect more from them than that and want them to embrace the time we have left. We would do our best to support them and get them help to work this out in their heads.
They cried for two hours. From time to time I walked around the room with a box of tissues and a trash bucket saying, “Please deposit and withdraw new snot rags.” It got smiles and slight laughs from time to time lightening the mood for a brief second.
Our hearts broke for them. Although David’s parents are both still living when I was nine my dad died suddenly from a heart attack. I know how hard it is to loose a parent at a young age. Our hope for them is that they focus on making memories while David is still here both mentally and physically able.
The youngest three are now seeing Debbie at Journey's Counseling Center in Maitland. She is connected with the counseling department at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando.
Debbie is an amazing Christian therapist and spiritual giant with a heart of gold and the Wisdom of Solomon. Our family is grateful and blessed to have her help us during this time.
Please pray for the child that God’s love encompasses them and they look to Him for peace. Join us in our prayer that He keeps them close and that they don’t make any foolish choices they will regret later on.
