Family
Remembering Their Beautiful Song
We received a beautiful card today that spoke perfectly to my mother’s life. It said: God gives every person their own unique song. It’s one that will play their entire life long. Through the love that they give and the gifts that they share, through the memories they make and the dreams that they dare. […]
Life Not Death
At church today, the first reading was from the book of Wisdom. The first sentence was, “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.” That hit my heart immediately. The Gospel reading was about a woman who was ill for many years. She touched Jesus’ cloak and was […]
Getting Out
Today my brothers and I decided to get out of the house. It was a relatively cool day so I packed a lunch and we went to one of favorite state parks which we had not been to in a long time. We hiked a little more than we originally anticipated and my legs made […]
A Good Day
Adding on to the previous post. We spent the day yesterday reminiscing and remembering my mom. We worked on her obituary and a slideshow of her life. We went through hundreds of photos and listened to the recordings of her piano playing. While it was sad, it was also joyful as we realized what a […]
Family Time
My nephew arrived from out of town last night. He stayed with my son last night so they were able to have some time together before my son leaves for the weekend. My other son and his family returned yesterday from their time away on the East Coast. Tonight we all had dinner together. It […]
Graceful
Yesterday as we talked with nurses and caregivers about my mother, my brother used the word “graceful” to describe her. When I sat with her this morning, her items on the nightstand caught my eye. They included her reading glasses, her St. Padre Pio prayer book, and a prayer card with her name on it. […]
The Rocking Chair
This morning as I sat with my mom, I was rocking in the rocking chair. It suddenly occurred to me that it was the same chair that my mom rocked me and my siblings in when we were babies and beyond. My mom was in this chair at the beginning of our lives and I […]
Quality Caregivers
We have struggled for months to get quality, caring, committed caregivers in the house to help care for my mom. Especially as her needs change and she continues to decline, this becomes harder and harder. It makes me hesitant to try new people, but it is necessary as I become more exhausted. Recently we hired […]
Carrying Her Cross
This morning my mom wasn’t feeling very well at all. She surprised me by saying she felt like she was carrying her cross. I agreed. We talked about how everyone has their cross to carry as they make their way home to God. When I got in the car to go to church, I heard […]
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Due to our lack of sleep, we decided to hire overnight caregivers. The first one came a couple nights ago. At the same time, we discovered that my mom was in tremendous pain. We did everything we knew to do, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. I called the Hospice company who sent […]
Still Finding God 