Today........

Sometimes in the rush of things we forget the simple pleasures. Today, I am thankful for a God who loves me, the sunshine on my face, the love of a good man, a great place to work, great people to work with, and good friends. Ain't life grand................

Missing My Mother

It's taken me over a month to write this post about losing my mother. The reality of it is still difficult to comprehend. My faith lets me know that she is in a much better place today. There is no pain and she is able to do all the things she could not in the last months of her life. She left this life with dignity, the way she wanted. I'm thankful that she was clear about how she led her life and how she chose to leave this life. It made it easier for us (the daughters) to make those critical decisions. I'm also greatful for Southern Care Hospice. The round-the-clock care during the last days were a blessing. She left us peacefully on November 6 with all her children at her bedside. The service on the following Sunday was a perfect tribute to a great lady. I've celebrated my first birthday without her and the holidays are definitely not the same. Life goes on, just differently. She was a wonderful mother and I miss her.............. Just as a side note, take every opportunity to tell your mother how much you love her. Time is too short to let those moments pass.

Busyness Business.......

Seems like I've been away for a while, but things have been ...busy. I'm convinced that life was better in a sense when I was young (back before electricity). Things moved slower.....we had fewer distractions to overload our schedules. Early to bed and early to rise was the rule not the exception. We worked hard, in school or at our place of employment, but we played hard as well (not in front of a TV either). Leisure hours were spent outside in the yard or on the front porch. Just thinking of the swings and rockers makes me smile. People took time to visit...share a meal or dessert. You did not have to call and make an appointment, either, just show up and knock on the front door. This busyness business has gotten the best of our culture......I'm thinking it's time to slow down................

Life List........

This has been an emotional week for me. I'm not sure why......... Perhaps the death of a relative has caused me to reflect on my own mortality or perhaps it's just me being female. However, I'm determined to be thankful for all things God has supplied.

A Savior

A loving husband (After 33 years, he's still my best friend)

Children and grandchildren

A loving family (blood relations and my adopted family: Adam Family - take note)

Special friends (especially Lisha, who keeps me sane and on track)

A wonderful work environment and great partners in ministry (who wouldn't love working at Mulder?)

Even though Bob will lose his job by year's end, we are trusting God to supply all we need. We can't let the uncertainty of tomorrow guide how we live our lives. I firmly believe God has His hand in all things that are affecting my family. I choose to celebrate all things...find joy in all things.....and praise Him always!

Life Lately.......

My good friend Lisha suggested that I should write about my life for the last month or so. It's been a whirlwind to say the least.



On February 25, my sister called to say my Mother was being taken to the hospital by ambulance. I was only 45 minutes away but Rose persuaded me to wait for the physician's diagnosis. Late that afternoon we were told that she would be admitted once a bed was available. Mother suffers from Alzheimer's and could not be left alone so we (the 3 sisters) mapped out a plan to take care of Mother around the clock. Since sister #3 lives in Florida, I took the first night. We were blessed to have been assigned a quarrantine room. This allowed us to have a buffer or sink area between the hallway and the room itself. How wonderful to miss all those hospital noises. The room was also large and allowed us to have a cot and a couple of comfy chairs. I actually slept pretty well the nights I stayed! My FL sister, Peggy, took the night shift for 5 days, knowing she would have to go home for a doctor's appointment the next week. God bless her for that. The outcome was a severe urinary tract infection, a kidney stone and several other kidney related problems. After 10 days Mother was taken back to the nursing home. If you know anything about dementia, you realize she had gotten into the hospital routine by that time and now had to go back to the nursing home routine. Not good. There have been 2 kidney procedures since her dismissal from the hospital with a radiology procedure to be performed tomorrow. All this takes its toll on someone easily confused. Mother is slowly recovering.....



My daughter and her family travelled to Michigan on March 7 to visit her in-laws. They had a wonderful time until my grandson, Wally, had a sledding accident and fractured his skull, eye and nose. He spent 5 days in a Wisconsin hospital before flying home. At his initial visit to Children's Hospital in B'ham, AL, the doctor warned Peggilyn that if Wally should start leaking spinal fluid they would have to operate quickly to minmize the possibility of contracting menengitis. Well, that is exactly what happened, so on April 1 my grandson had brain surgery. He has recovered rapidly and hopes to have all 45 staples removed on Friday. Yes, I did say 45 staples. He will probably miss the remainder of the school year but should be able to move to the 3rd grade by doing his work at home.



My life has been a whirlwind, a tornado, a rollercoaster.......leaving me with little or no control over things. Not good from my point of view. I have learned to lean more on God, ask for help from Him and my friends and focus on the positives in my life. Bad things happen and I've had a streak of bad things going on recently. Today, Mother is much better and still recognizes me and Wally is the happy smiling child who owns a big part of my heart.



I'm exhausted from reliving all that's happened and I left out a lot of the details.....but it has helped to write about my life, lately.........