Saturday, August 1, 2009


My late brother Jimmy left his son Jason some money and Jason was kind enough to send me a few hundred dollars. I wasn't sure what to do with the money. Part of me wanted to pay bills, part of me wanted to give it back, part of me wanted to give it away, and part of me wanted to do something special.

Ultimately, I decided to buy something significant with it. I wanted to buy something that would remind me of Jimmy, something that would be special -- peaceful and loving. Almost immediately, I began to think about a fountain.

And so, last week while Heidi and I were out "dreaming" with the kids, which we love to do ["Dreaming" usually takes place at the end of the month when we don't have money. Usually, we drive around and look at fancy houses and big pieces of land. Or we go to Sam's club or Lowe's and see what's there, to see what we would buy to place in our "dream" house] we saw a very nice, elegant fountain. It was simple.

There were no cascading tiers, no loud splashing sounds. There was only a rippling effect on the surface of the tall vase as the water gently sheeted down. I loved it and Heidi thought it was a good fit for what I sought.

I bought it, and after trying it out in several locations throughout the yard, we decided that it would look best in the front. It was a place where we could see it each day and where others could enjoy it as they walked by our house.

After several trips to Lowe's and The Home Depot with the family, I finally set up the fountain today. I worked on removing the sod this morning, and then this afternoon, I placed the foundation rocks for the fountain. I considered waiting for the solar pump to arrive before I set up the actual fountain, but the girls were excited. After all, they did "help." ; ) And so, we placed the fountain, filled it up with water, and plugged it in.


The fountain looks nice.


Jimmy would have liked it.