My Brother Larry

This is a picture of my brother Larry & I at a family reunion we went to a few years ago. Larry came down to visit with us for about three weeks while my dad trained him how to run his own starter & alternator business. We had fun while he was here. It had been over ten years since we had seen each other or really even talked. God had laid it on my heart to pray for the two of us to reconnect and a couple of months later Larry came down from Michigan. It was God's perfect timing. Exactly what our family needed. At the family reunion we had laughed and joked around so much our stomach's were aching, it was a good day!

Larry passed away September 28, 2011. He was 42 years old. My brother had heart problems since he was about 35 and every year it just seemed to get worse for him. Our family really misses him. We rented a 12 passenger van and ten of us drove to Michigan for the funeral. At the funeral there were a few people that stood up to tell stories about Larry and I can tell you that he was very loved - he was surrounded by loving and caring friends.

Since Larry's death I have not been very good at choosing to eat the correct foods or the right portion sizes. Having the weight loss surgery has restricted my eating but I seemed to have grazed on all sorts of foods that are not on the list for me to have. In Michigan where Larry lived my parents took us over to an Amish Bakery and James & I spent over $50 buying some of their homemade goodies. We bought local maple syrup, homemade noodles, strawberry rhubarb pie, pumpkin roll, chocolate & pumpkin whoopie pies, & granola. I tried a little of everything! It was so delicious and the Amish people there made everything from scratch. Here is a picture of the little Amish bakery.

There is always a way to cheat yourself, and that is exactly what I have done this past week. I ate till my stomach hurt and chose foods that I have no business eating. I really thought that I gained back some weight on our trip but I weighed in Friday and I was exactly the same weight as before our trip to Michigan. Very surprising! Today I got on the scale and I lost another pound bringing my total to 20 pounds lost! I need to lose another five pounds to be under 200, hopefully this week I can work hard to reach this goal. Monday I go in to get my first fill in my lapband. I know it will restrict my eating! I am looking forward to it.

Kelly