The wife of my friend and co-worker, who offices next to me, was pregnant with twin girls due in December--Autumn Grace and Lauren Elizabeth. About four weeks ago she lost one of the girls, but was still carrying her. Then last week she lost the other. After a half-day in the office on Friday, Mary, Drew and I drove to Illinois for the wake, stayed for the funeral on Saturday and then drove back Saturday night so that I could work Sunday getting done what I didn't finish on Friday. It was all very tiring and emotionally draining.

It was important for me to attend not only because I was the only person who would be attending from work but also because I remember how much it meant to me when my friends, that I hadn't even contacted, showed up at my father's funeral last December. Not only did their showing up mean a lot to me, but also the fact that they just hung around for what seemed like a couple of hours really helped that day. If at all possible, I wanted to do the same.

The trip was Drew's tenth out-of-state journey in just eleven months. He's a great traveler.