Hi Sky

The night before my father died, he told me he wanted me to have his house (buy my sister's half) and live here. He was disappointed when I told him we already had a home and couldn't possibly live here.

We put the house on the market, but I was sitting in the backyard with my sister one day looking at the lilac bushes. I remembered how much I loved the back yard and those lilac bushes. My back yard had always been a sanctuary for me as a kid. I couldn't imagine the new owners allowing me to hang around in their back yard.

When I mentioned the idea of buying the house to my sister, she was thrilled. She's lived in TX for many years, and this property is also her "sanctuary." She comes to visit me every year, and it makes her feel good to feel that connection to mom and dad again. She had a very good relationship with my mother.

My mother's final words to me were an angry "GO HOME!"

It would have been nice to tear down the house and rebuild, but I became sick and we've been struggling financially ever since.

I'm not here because it's the only thing I know. I'm here because I am honoring my mother and father.

My Ring Around the Rosie comment wasn't meant as an insult to God. It was just my way of saying that I am a child and he is in charge.