Movies and 3D
I have heard so much hype about watching movies in 3-D, but I didn’t want to pay extra because I am cheap and I was worried that Z wouldn’t be able to wear the glasses over his glasses which could be frustrating for everybody. Then there were a couple occasions where we had some opportunity to watch 3-D stuff at home with some of the little reb/blue glasses and I was never impressed, but I blamed it on the cheap glasses. Then come to find out the cheapy glasses were working for everyone except me! I don’t have any vision problems so I thought maybe my eyes were too sharp to fooled by this three dimensional illusion, but then I googled it and it turns out there are a lot of people that can’t see 3-D (Johnny Depp is one) and it’s because of visual impairments. I’ll admit this diagnosis caught me off guard, but contrary to the online recommendation I don’t plan on going to an eye doctor. I can read, I can see near and far, I can take pictures, and play sports (well, maybe not the sports, but I don’t blame my eyes). I guess not being able to watch 3-D movies is something I can live without. I rarely go to the movies anyway. It averages about once or twice a year lately, but this week went to the theater twice!
The first one was the Kung Fu Panda sequel. Both of the kids wore panda shirts. We all laughed and I even cried at the end a little.
Then next day a friend of ours offered us 4 tickets to see Cars 2 at 9:00 am on opening day! Well, we couldn’t pass that up, so yesterday we got up early and went to the theater at 8:00. 
Z had all his Lightning McQueen fan gear from his sippy cup down to his underwear.
They played a game of tossing around the beach balls while we sat and waited for the movie to start and State Farm insurance who sponsored the whole thing gave away lots of prizes. I left with a balloon, Lighting McQueen tattoo and a teddy bear. It really was a blast.
I think that’s enough movies for me for a while. Although, I admit I am curious whether or not I would be able to watch 3D with polarized glasses. Supposedly there is a good percentage of people that get sick, tired, or just can’t see 3D images at all. So I have to ask does anyone else have any issues seeing 3D or know someone who does?
It’s not exactly the traditional Texas family portrait I had in mind, but there’s always next year. 
I am guessing Zeb would probably be artistic and musical like the rest of my family and I am sure he would jamming with the guys if he were here, but let’s be honest whatever he is rocking out to in heaven is way better than what we’ve got going on. As far as what the future holds, I look forward to sharing Zeb’s legacy with my children someday when they are older. I have a memorial scrapbook with photos of my brother. There are also some little wooden trucks Zeb had painted that are displayed in Z’s room. 
Lastly, the kids have a copy of The Runaway Bunny, which is so special because not only did I read it to Zeb in his last days with us, but it was written in 1942 which was right around when our house was built, and when I bought this book at Kohl’s the net sales went to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network which is a foundation that had a part in Zeb’s life. 
I bought this book before the kids were born and I don’t think I have even read it to them yet. Maybe tonight that will change. 
But in the ICU he became swollen and they had to lay extra large tshirts over his body instead of dress him because of all the tubes that he was hooked up to. We still stuck together through it all. I remember reading to him The Runaway Bunny and stroking his forehead, because even though he couldn’t respond much, he seemed to appreciate the tender touch. In April of 1991 I was called out of my second grade class to the school office. When I arrived and saw my parents and brothers with red eyes full of tears I pretty much knew what was going on. My dad told us that Zeb had passed away the night before. I remember him telling us that our ultimate goal was to get to heaven to see Jesus, but that now we have even more to look forward to. Shortly after that we moved onto a large auditorium where they made the announcement to the entire student body of our tight knit private school. Of course people pulled together to support our family, and we felt love coming from every direction. Some ladies bought me a beautiful new dress to wear to the funeral. It’s hard to believe that was 20 years ago. There has been a lot of grieving and different stages of processing, but I feel like as a family we’ve grown closer to each other and closer to God. I will never know why my little brother had to leave us at such a young age, what I do know is that we will not take for granted having such a sweet loving boy as a part of our family. We will never forget the seven precious years that we had with him here on this earth and lastly we rejoice in knowing we will see him again.
My little brother Zeb had bug bites, which is no big deal for an active toddler living out in the country. The problem was that they didn’t go away, so my mom decided it wouldn’t hurt to have it checked by a doctor. They did some blood work and on September 9, 1987 Zeb was diagnosed with Leukemia. I didn’t move onto first grade the next year and now I can understand why, but being held back was something that I would feel ashamed of throughout a good part of my childhood. The next 2 ½ years of my life were spent staying with friends, family, and various church members off and on because my parents were at the hospital so often throughout Zeb’s chemotherapy. I hated staying with other people, and I hated having blood drawn. The nurses at the hospital tried holding me, but I distinctly remember kicking screaming and eventually protesting to the point that they had to strap me down. But despite how I make it sound things weren’t so bad. I liked the hospital. We had lots of friends there. The Doctors and nurses were so nice and one of them loved to challenge me at Tetris on the rec room computer. To this day I can still take anyone at Tetris, it’s the only video game I am good at. We would also have therapy with a counselor at the hospital, but I didn’t know that’s what it was until later. I called her Linda the play lady and I just had a great time coloring and writing and spending time with my brothers. 
