1872- Emerson's house burns

A tradegy has overcome me and my family today. Our home burst into flames and burnt to the ground. I understand that random tradegy is inevitable in life, that we cannot get away from it. That this fire, may be a lesson from the all mighty to show us that we can always have room for purification. Material items never last. The clothes on your back, the roof over your head, the floor beneath your feet, the toys your kids play with, can all disappear in seconds. This life is not meant to be lived surrounded by four walls and a roof, but lived out in the very creation of the one who created us all! And today in loss, I am reminded of this.

1853- Mother dies at 84 years old

After growing strong and tall, branching out and bearing much fruit of her own, including me, living 84 beautiful, harmonious years, she is gone. At rest is her soul in the clouds of the sky with father, Ellen, and Waldo. Her life leaves behind a trail, each step along the way leaves imprints in the lives and hearts of so many, especially mine. I listen to the pitter-patter of the creek below and am reminded of the sound of her foot steps through the kitchen, working so hard and long to feed the family. My mother has not left, rather become one with the forest. One with all of nature, and it's surroundings. One with her ture love, one with the creator himself.

July 10, 1844- Edward Waldo is born

Although I have lost a piece of land, I seem to gain another one and could not be happier. A boy was granted to me today. What a great day! that Edward Waldo would be granted to me! The sun is shinning, the sky is clear and blue, and the birds are singing melodies. Before a butterfly can flourish, and becomes a beautiful creature, it starts as a ordinary caterpillar. I hold this new bundle of joy, this caterpillar in my arms. I hope and pray that I can prepare and raise it well, so it may flourish and develop into a stronger, bigger, beautiful butterfly, ready to spread his wings and fly away into the world.
I am so proud of my other kids and where they are flourishing. Ellen is now five years of age, and Edith is two, almost three years of age. Ellen has begun to branch out like a beautiful tree, and slowly in time she says goodbye to her childish things, fairy princesses and folk tales and begins to grasp onto maturity and new ideas. She has become quite the little helper around the home, the same way, lady bugs help plants grow by eating aphids. Edith is a bundle of energy, running from corner to corner of the house like a little squirrel scurrying through the forest. I pray that I may raise, and tend my fields to the fullest possible potential.

1842-Waldo dies of Scarlet Fever

Death has very much become a theme through out my life. After losing my father, and my first love, I lose my one and only son. Disease crept into his life and killed his flourishment till death. I tried to hide from pain like an owl hides from the sun but no matter how hard I try, dawn kept breaking each day. And with every new dawn, my heart shattered a little bit more. I know it was Waldo's time to move on, the same way birds migrate each winter. I know that in the death of this field I will see growth in other fields, including my own. I must constantly remind myself that life for myself is not over, that I must let this fire shape me, not incinerate me. So, that through experiences I can dig deep and grow closer to the creation and the creator, rather than fall back.

Nov. 22 1841-Edith is born

Another field of grass has been given to me, to tend, trim and develop. We named her Edith. I am blessed beyond measure to own three beautiful healthy fields of grass. I continue to seek to do my best to the tend the needs of grass and shape the growth coming from it. Just like sun and water affect the growth and development of all three of my kids, but I will continue to be the best gardener and father that I know how to be, and control and limit the amounts the grass is saturated with light or water.

Feb. 24 1839- Ellen is born

Less than three years after being blessed by the birth of Waldo my son, I am blessed by the birth of a daugther. Ellen, in memory of my first wife is the name I have chosen for my new child. The grass may have died for the long and lonely winter, but it has returned to me, younger, fuller and greener than ever. My job is to water her and help nurture and provide for her so she can grow into a long healthy summer of a life. As the gardener of the grass, I can trim and cut and control the growth and death of every strand of grass. When weeds and pollution begin to overtake it, I can seclude it and nurse it back to health and well-being.

Oct. 30 1836-Birth of Waldo

Today the heavens have blessed me with a child. A son, a boy who I will raise to fill the shoes of his father. I shall commit to raise this boy up by the principles of truth. Teaching him the ways of nature and showing him divine inner peace. To look at life from a new perspective, although death occurs as a natural process in nature, I see the joys in birth and beginnings. The beginning of not only Waldo's adventure through life, but the beginning of my adventure through fatherhood. May I provide for him like an animal provides for his cub.