A few thoughts on the "Little Women" syndrome...

Well, to be truthful there is no "Little Women syndrome"; it's a name I have used to sum up the problem that we were introduced to last year. Allow me to explain.
Last year it happened that my Mom, sisters, and I were away to Austin off and on for some time, leaving Dad at home alone or he was on a business trip. So we were not able to see each other for very long before someone had to leave again.

Unfortunately, our communication suffered as a result of this. We didn't really share what we were thinking or things that mattered to us because we were either too tired or we were talking about our various trips.

This caused us to become like strangers to our Dad.

When we were together again some things, like family devotions, became strained and almost foreign.

It was a very sad time and it took a very serious conversation and some sober inward looks at our hearts to make things right.

Looking back this has made me "bookmark" certain things that will indicate when we will be in danger of this again.

So while we get back into the weekly routines, as our days become filled, and the evenings at home seem to slowly seem to fill up, we try to share as much of ourselves with Dad as we can. Often times going out of our way to confide in him what is troubling us and especially what we are struggling with.

Hopefully we won't go back to the dark, lonely time of last year, but continue to value and treasure this time in our lives that we have with our Dad.