I Still Suck At Strawberry Fair

friday, karen and i went out to dinner with my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and my favorite brother-in-law (pj).

the previous nights, both karen and i helped janine as she prepared for her first craft fair at the south shore vocational technical high school in hanover. karen helped janine with the basket creation and preparation, while i worked on the creation of the website for janine. (for anyone curious, the link to janine's new craft is www.myprettypresent.com.)

anyway, on friday janine and pj had plans to attend a fundraiser for the rockland public schools. the fundraiser involved going to abington to watch jimmy plunkett. (i am not sure why the fundraiser was in abington because the proceeds were for rockland. for that matter, i'm not sure why anyone would want to see jimmy plunkett. i have never seen jimmy plunkett myself. i have always envisioned jimmy plunkett as someone who old people go to see. i could be wrong about that.) nonetheless, janine and pj asked us if we wanted to have dinner beforehand. and so, we went out for dinner. the location: strawberry fair.

too bad i still suck at strawberry fair. as usual, the food was delicious. i had the "special ravioli" which consisted of pumpkin. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) whoever thinks ravioli must contain meat inside... moron. just kidding.

needless to say, the four of us had a good night. we celebrated janine's new business. hopefully, the hours she spent this week in preparing for the craft fair were worth it for her. i really hope janine enjoys it. i actually think karen enjoys the whole craft idea with janine as well because karen likes making crafts. karen's current crafting kick is making photo album... things. i know my description of the item doesn't really do it any justice. the photo album thing looks cooler in person.

and although i did not explicitly mention it at dinner, i thought the dinner was a little celebration for my son (braden) too. earlier in the day, karen and i visited with a high risk doctor to plan a course of action in the event karen and i are lucky enough to conceive again. the outlook looked promising, which was good.

i think what stuck in my mind was the fact that the doctor mentioned that braden sacrificed himself to let us know that there was a high risk involved in the pregnancy and any future pregnancies. i know it is a little odd to remember that. i think the reason why i remember it so much is because i had thought about that reason myself at one time after braden had passed... and just hearing the doctor say the same thing made me reflect upon it some more.

with any tragedy, i think a lot of people always wonder why. it's a normal thing and i'm no different. i think knowing why, or at least some reason, gives people more closure as they try to make sense out of the tragedy... where there may not be any sense to it whatsoever.

when i was thinking about why my son had to pass, i had actually thought at one time that the reason was because braden decided to make the biggest sacrifice (that being his life) so that his future siblings could live. you couldn't ask for a better older brother, i guess. whether that really is the reason or not, i'm not sure. but having the doctor mention something similar only made me reaffirm that possible reason why.

thus, having dinner that night... i thought i would celebrate my son who i believe was heroic to the end.