Hey Guys,
        First  of all, on a brighter note, I thought that you guys could
appreciate the fact that  we've become bird owners.  It was really a rescue
mission of sorts.  This kid had to get rid of his parakeet and so, bravely,
we took it in.  We have no clue whether it is male or female, or how old it
is yet.  We know very little about birds so feel free to give advice.  It
has a pretty little song and it really likes talking while we are
talking.  It's name was Sky, so I think that we'll just keep it that
way.  this all happened pretty fast.
        As you might expect, Darius has lent his full approval to the new
adition.  With me taking up knitting and now the bird, Darius's opinion of
us has been elevated somewhat, I believe.  I'm quite sure that he thinks
that we are doing this all for him!
        In other news, We have been denied a court appointed lawyer.  However, we
have consulted with one of the criminal lawyers recommended to us and he
has advised us to still not hire a lawyer and to appeal to the judge in the
case as to the unfairness of the plaintiffs having to pay for the
defendant's lawyer.  So, Greg has written a letter of appeal.  I do hope
that this matter gets settled quickly so that the trial can proceed next
Tuesday, May 24.  Selfishly, I just want this over with so that we all have
a better clue as to what our future looks like.  I'm not the adventurous
sort who thrives on the unknown.
        Along those lines, we will be having our team meeting tomorrow, I believe,
to determine what should happen to Chris after next Tuesday.  I think that
it is almost a given that he won't be coming home.  What we don't know is,
if he will have to serve time and where he will go after that time is
served.  This is when being a mother is so hard.
        We are meeting with the chaplain this evening.  He wants to go in with us
when we vitis Chris to see how we interact together.  I have no clue if
Chris has read my letter.  I'll probably find out this evening.  There's
never a dull moment in the Du Bois household, that's for sure!
        Oh, one more thing, my son Matt is coming home this evening!  Well, I
mean, he's supposed to get home this evening.  Greg was instant messaging
with him at noon and he was still packing and didn't have a ride to the
airport yet.  He only had two hours to get everything done.  He's such a
rotten planner.  I wish that he had received some of my genes, at least, in
that department.  Oh well, I'm pretty sure that he'll make it.  Please pray
that somehow, in God's mercy, we can all be together as a family over these
next two weeks while Matt is home.  Matt will be sleeping alone in Chris's
room and, right now, the only people who can visit Chris are us, his legal
guardians.  I guess that that is another reason that I would like the trial
to move forward next Tuesday.  Once Chris's future is settled, he will be
able to have more visitors.
Kathy