Moak mie foadijch.

Waut hast Du vea ve mie in dissem Joa, mien Voda im Himmel? Tjinjajoare sent aul vebie. Nue moak mie riep. Moak mie foadijch. Brinj dien goodet Oabeit in mie toom Enj.

Melissa sewed me a pillow.

Parents are great, but siblings you have longer.

Mel and Jess

Elona and me






















Melissa. Whenever I need practical help, she's the one I go to.

She loves helping people practically. Just today she came over for lunch and brought a lounge chair and pretty yellow curtains for my room.















Elona. I will use a German word to describe her: flott. (It sort of means hip, sophisticated, quick, youthful, smart, zesty. Something like that!)







Jessica. She was the choreographer for her school dance team, she's an avid soccer player, an excellent seamstress, captain of her volleyball team, plus piano practice, plus the band at church, then tons of friends, and in all this, she is kind and gentle at all times. Only a sister would know this, and it's true!

Jessica is a goofball too. She'll come home from soccer practice, sweaty and tired, and I'll say, "Gorgeous!" like she's stunningly beautiful. Her response is so funny, I wanted to describe it for you. But it's all visual so I'll just show you if you ever ask.

Even in disconnect, they see eye to eye.

My parents do this thing lately, where they talk at the same time (to a third party). They're not listening to each other, but are saying the SAME thing. Melissa noticed it first, and now I see it all the time. Like just yesterday...
Seeing the strawberries on the table, my parents had the same free association, and started talking at the same time. Half the group listened to my dad say: "Strawberries are so big here. In Estonia we had wild strawberries. They were really tiny, but very very sweet."

Meanwhile, my mom was saying: "When I was a kid, we would pick strawberries in the forest [in Estonia]. They were tiny tiny, but very sweet. I would love to . . ."

She happened to make eye-contact with my dad.

". . . bite into one right now."

"Bite into what right now?" my dad asked innocently.

Melissa Graduated!

MELISSA'S ART SHOW

MELISSA'S GRADUATION

Melissa took off after graduation, and is working in Germany now.

Melissa doing her thing at our cousin's wedding in Dresden.

If only I were that receptive to you, Lord.

We have an autistic boy who is very receptive to anything we teach him. Someone recently taught him to say "no thank you," instead of "no." Now that's the only way he says it.


"Eat your vegetables, hon."

"No thank you."

Or,

"Sweetie, let's go look at the snakes."

"No thank you."

"Come on. Let's go join the other kids by the reptiles."

"No thank you," shaking his head vigorously. "No thank you!"