Things began to get exciting when Alf's brother, Ronnie, called us a couple years ago to tell us that he was going to turn himself in, in hopes of eventually having family again and living a somewhat normal life. We had not heard from Ronnie in years (maybe five or more.) The last time we had seen him was at his five yr old daughters funeral. Alf would occasionally look in the obituaries b/c no one we knew had heard from him.
Having contact with him now, Alf continued conversation with him. During his time in jail Ronnie would call to keep us posted on court stuff, share with us things he was learning, and would sometimes have a few needs. We did what we could to let him know we love him and would try to encourage him. His time was shortened so now two years later he is a free man. He has his girlfriend, a three and a half yr old daughter they share, and his girlfriends eight yr old daughter - neither of them allow him much personal space:)
We would hear regularly from other family members how Alf's sister and half brother (Theresa and Jerry)were doing. We never looked in obituaries for them:) We knew they were around taking care of each other, they simply did not have much to do with family.....for a looooong time (maybe seven years.) The last time I saw her was at their grandmothers funeral. For Alf and I, moving back to New Orleans has not been to just plant a church. It has been to reconnect with his siblings again. B/c of facebook, Jerry and Theresa found Alf and we immediately jumped on the opportunity to see them since we now live near them.
Tomorrow will be a week that Ronnie has been out of jail. So one evening this past week, we had the privilege of having him (and girlfriend and kids) and Theresa over for dinner. (Jerry chose not to make it in fear of being late to work.) It was a good time. We sat around talking about how other family members were doing and listened to Ronnie and Theresa reminisce about some of the past (like when they were 13 and 15, Ronnie stepped in to help Theresa from getting beat up by a group of girls.)The kids had a blast on the slip-n-slide outside, playing basketball, eating sugar cookies, etc.
I hope that this is the beginning of many more evenings with them!
It has been interesting to hear all of their perspectives of childhood. They all grew up together in one house but have very different views of how life was. A lot of it has to do with the age differences, some of it has to do with choices made. Ronnie, his girlfriend, and I had a brief time of talking about how Alf's life panned out and why he is not in many of the memories that Ronnie and Theresa share. Why God chose to pull Alf away from it when He did, we do not know. We live in HOPE and FAITH that God, as he has been doing, will continue to show His immeasurable love and do more then we can ask or imagine in this life. May I trust Him in every step. I love Alf AND the family that came with him:)
