eph21920

The Great Exodus

The day after my dad’s funeral was the great exodus. I was grateful that my out of town family had stayed for 3 weeks, but it was time for everyone to make their way back home – except for one. I asked my brother if he would stay a few more days so we wouldn’t […]

At the Cemetery

The cold wind the day of the funeral blew in ice and snow for the next day. However, the following afternoon was mild and sunny with a clear blue sky, so we decided to make a trip out to the cemetery. After the military honors the other day, the military cemetery performed the burial in […]

Dad’s Funeral

Preparing for almost 2 weeks seemed like an agonizing wait. Then suddenly, the day came for dad’s funeral. The visitation the night before was a small gathering of good friends. Among them were my sister’s best friend from high school and some close friends of mine who also came from out of town. It was […]

Waiting and Preparing

After my dad’s death, there was almost 2 weeks before his funeral. During that time, my brothers, sister, nephew and his wife spent the majority of time at the house with me and my mom. My sons, daughter in law and grandkids stopped by from time to time, and we video chatted with my sister […]

Home To God

My dad spent a couple of days in the hospital as the doctors did their best work. They and the nurses were so empathetic and caring. The neurologist was the same one who saw my dad 2 years ago when he had the stroke. He was an amazing, compassionate person who had honest, yet difficult, […]

Spiritual Perspective

My dad had been declining since his big fall on Friday. He ended up back in the ER yesterday. This afternoon I had a conversation with the doctor about decisions that will need to be made regarding his care once we see if or how much he may recover. After our talk I had to […]

Close Family Close

As my mom and drove down our street this morning, we met my daughter in law at the stop light just by chance. She was heading to my the school. My mom spotted her before I did. We talked about how it is still surprising to see her here. And to be in the same […]

Positive Resolutions

My mom and I made it up to see my dad this afternoon. He looked pitiful but got in a chuckle or a smile every now and again. I spoke with the director, caregivers, and his PCP. I was surprised to learn that by law the doors to the courtyards must remain unlocked at all […]

Another Painful Experience

It’s been a rough couple of days. On Friday afternoon, I was able to finally get my COVID booster. Planning ahead, my sister was coming to stay with my mom and I for the weekend. It had just started to snow when she left for her normal 1 1/2 hour drive. Just as my mom […]

Spiritual Support

I had not met with my prayer group since before Thanksgiving, so it was nice to get together with them online tonight. People had similar stories about being with some family over holidays and then not because of COVID. We had a thoughtful discussion about the scripture reading for the upcoming Sunday- the story of […]