Saturday morning a good friend's husband passed away. He was a hero in my eyes and I am sure many others. He was a Detroit Firefighter, and he and his family always held a special place in my heart. I met him through his wife Syri at SFFC while I was a case manager. I remember the first day I met Syri. She didn't do much talking because she was swamped with work, but I knew we would become great friends.

Syri and I shared an office for a long time and really enjoyed it because we were able to talk, and gossip and joke with each other during our stressful work days. I always enjoyed her company! Walt came to visit her one day. I saw this huge man walking towards me in a leather biker vest and thought, this can't be Syri's husband...no way!

But it was...His name was Walt Harris and he was one of the kindest men I had ever met. Walt and Syri have 6 children, ranging from grown adults to toddlers and are also grandparents, even though they are only in their mid 30's. I loved this family... not only were they happy, but they loved each other!! They were a close family and accepting of everyone. I always thought they were the ideal family...and they were perfect! They went to church together, they ate together, they hung out together. They enjoyed each other's company.

I remember the first time my husband met him. It was at our wedding and they came after dinner because Walt had to marry a couple that afternoon. I introduced Scott to Walt, since he had already met Syri numerous times. I remember him giving Walt a big huge and thanking him so much for coming to our wedding. They talked for a while and Scott told me what a nice man he thought Walt was.

I have a few favorite memories of Walt. Seeing him walk into my work with his biker vest is one. I also love to remember a party we had at the water park where he helped out my work by cooking food for our foster kids! And then my favorite. He and Syri had taken dance lessons years ago and at my wedding they decided to try out their moves. Right in the middle of the dance floor there they are bickering about who was doing it wrong...laughing the whole time but just couldn't get the footwork down! I have pictures of them dancing and looking so incredibly happy and in love! Those pictures will be forever burned in my memory.

Walt was a minister, a firefighter, a husband, a grandfather, a mentor, an avid biker, the fire station cook, and an all around good man. I can not imagine the pain and heartbreak my friend and her family are going through. It breaks my heart that such a nice man was taken from his family. But God always has a reason and Walt was needed for bigger and better things.

So today, please take a minute and think about all of your family and friends who are no longer with us, and take a moment of silence for my friend, Walt Harris. He will be missed by many! I will miss you Walt, but I know I will see you again someday.

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I have had a lot of people ask me recently how much Jack weighs... and to tell you the truth I had no idea... I guessed and said, so probably 8.5 lbs. boy was I wrong. Thursday at mom new mom's support group I weighed Jack. To my surprise the boy was not 8.5 lbs; he was.......10 lbs 14.5 oz!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!! Holy Crap he is getting big and I had no idea! Well, I knew he was getting biger but I feel like he still looks small. He is right on track for his weight! So that's awesome! So now you all now, Jack is almost 11 pounds!!! Man they grow up fast.......

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Jack has always been a pretty good sleeper... He sleeps normally for 3.5 - 4 hours straight before he needs to eat. Well, it has been three days now that he has slept through the night... I am praying this continues because as any new mom will tell you, sleep is definitely taken for granted in life and as a mom, you don't get any! I couldn't have been happier today when I woke up and it was 7am and he was still sleeping! It was definitely a blessing to have a full nights sleep without a 3am feeding!

Jack also turned 7 weeks today! Very happy to see him growing big and strong, but sad that he is outgrowing his newborn clothes! We tried to weigh him yesterday, but I am sure the scale was off!! lol We will see tomorrow when I go to support group and have him weighed there.

I just can't believe how fast he is growing and all the amazing things he is doing now! Jack is responding to our voices! He is always smiling, except for the occasional visit from Mr. Grumpy-Pants!

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Well its 7:30pm Thursday night...i am stuck at work, cleaning up someone Else's mess...and all I can think about is getting home to my son and wife...I have the picture of him in his pea pod costume on my desktop, babies don't get much better looking than this.

Since I am doing a database restore all I can do is sit and watch the bars....and since its 75GB (That's really big for you non-geeks out there) it is a very slow go...but on the plus side, it seems to be just mean and the cleaning crew...Oh and Neil Diamond.

Anyhow just some random thoughts as I sit here alone(well fairly alone). I cant wait to get home kiss my wife and Hold Jack in my arms.

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Today is the day...the day to go make a difference! If you don't, Jack will hunt you down! So VOTE NOW and make a difference. It's the only way to get your voice heard!

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