Getting Out

[Ian]

I cooked a breakfast casserole for the kids and made some pancakes, then sliced up some fruit. Since it was the weekend, I took my time with it. The kids would be up soon. I could practically hear them getting out of bed.

As the savory aroma of the breakfast casserole filled the air when I pulled it out of the oven and set it up in the dining room. The weekends were a precious time for us, a chance to slow down and savor these little moments as a family. I did for them what I thought their parents would have wanted for them.

Whenever there was a performance or event at school, I was there. I took them trick-or-treating. We had big holidays together. I took pictures of everything and each kid had their own album of pictures.

The sound of small footsteps echoed down the hallway, gro……