Mom picked some fresh catnip for us.  She said she wanted to ask if she could use our blog tonight.

We told her she could use it whenever she wanted…….but the catnip was a wonderful treat.  I gobbled it down right away!

We also got some tuna water so it has been a wonderful night so far!

Well, here’s Mom……………(What do you mean I sound like Ed McMahon.  Who on earth is that?)

Steinbeck is too young to know Ed McMahon and I’m thinking some of their readers are also too young.  Anyway, that’s not who I want to write about.  I want you to meet my cousins.

This is Steve, Allison and their son, Mitch.  Allison’s mom, April, is my first cousin and we’ve stayed close over the years.Over the weekend I got one of those dreaded calls from April.  She told me that Steve, Allison and Mitch had been in a car accident.  I couldn’t believe it.  They had been heading out to a special Wild West airsoft event. This is a family that has always loved being involved in reenactments and things like that.  It was going to be a time for Mitch and his best friend to have some fun.  Mitch has lots of medical issues and he wanted to go to this so desperately.  Needless to say, they all ended up in hospitals instead.

I posted a prayer request on Facebook and it seemed like it exploded.  I started getting comments from people all over the place.  My cousins have friends all over and everyone wanted to know what was happening.  I got a chance to text some of those people.  I made new friends.  I felt the power of prayer reaching my cousins and coming from all directions.

How can I explain how small the world really is?  Sometimes it just takes saying hi to someone and then it spreads.  We never know the connections we may have to others unless we open up and talk.  That’s what I think the younger generation (Does that mean I’m the older generation now???) misses out on.  They are glued to their cell phones.  They don’t write letters.  They don’t send cards.  They don’t look in a person’s eye.

Now, I was using social media over the weekend to ask for prayers, but then I went further and started up conversations and added new friends.  We may never meet, but we will remember that time in April 2019 when we were praying for my cousins.

I can thankfully report that my cousins are all out of the hospital and back home now.  They still have lots of recovery ahead of them and need prayers for strength and patience.  Mitch’s best friend, Mike, is still in the hospital and needs prayers for his injuries.  He had more severe injuries than the rest of them and it will be a long road to recovery.  Allison is a cancer survivor and I’m so proud of how she has marched forward.  This is an incredible family and I’m so thrilled that we are related.

Thanks for listening.  I better go get the boys some more catnip so they don’t try to take over the computer.  Have a beautiful week, everyone.