Our Country Kids

Our Country Kids
Our Three Blessings

Monday, March 7, 2011

Creating a New Normal...

The last blog post I did was on January 10th after finding out on January 3rd that my mom had leukemia. There has been a lot packed into these last 2 months--joy, sorrow, grief, unbelief, sadness, hope--every emotion you can think of, and some that you can't. We laid mom to rest yesterday after a wonderful service. Their small church was overflowing and standing room only. It was a wonderful testimony to her life of loving her family and those who we love because she first loved us. As devastating as losing your mom is, Scott's oldest brother Stan passed away the same day---YES---the same day, after an extended illness that ended with Hospice care at the home of their mom and dad. A double blow indeed. We experienced such an outpouring of love and support from our friends and church family, otherwise we would not have made it through. By best friend Judith rode into town from 3 hours away and took charge. I don't think I could have made it without her. She took care of the boys, went to Grandparent/Special Person day (along with my Aunt Glenda ) with Silas at his school, cleaned my house from top to bottom, washed clothes, vacuumed floors, waited on a furniture delivery, helped me get pictures printed for my mom's service....I'm exhausted just thinking about it! Thank you God for friends in Christ!

I am ever so grateful for the last 2 months we had with mom. We all got to spend time with her and we definitely grew closer together as a family. My brothers pitched in like you wouldn't even believe. I was able to work a modified schedule at work so that I could cover most of the weekdays and my siblings covered the nights and weekends while I worked. Scott of course had to take care of the boys, but he was such a trooper. I was able to spend time with mom, cook for her, do her laundry, sit and watch her favorite shows with her, just hang out. She felt pretty good up until Feb 24th, she started to really be tired and unable to walk much. She took a turn for the worse over that weekend, and I had to give her a first dose of morphine on Tuesday. The Hospice nurses are wonderful, just a phone call away, but when they tell you it's time to open the box, you know it's bad. She passed away the next morning, on Wednesday March 2nd at 11:30am. Our family is so thankful that she is out of pain and alive with Jesus in Glory. The pain we feel is great at this time, but knowing that she is in a better place makes it a lot easier.

Silas is doing okay, but he got off the bus at her house everyday that I was at work, usually 4 times a week. We will have to try to make this adjustment as easy for him as possible. I am going to try to work a lighter load for a while and see how we do. My dad is going to struggle greatly and we will all have to be there for him and help him adjust to a life without mom, who took care of everything for him for 52 years. We will continue to need prayers, so when the Lord brings our family to your mind, please pray for us!









***Some may think it's morbid to take pictures at a funeral, but I want our boys to remember their Mamaw and we can always think about her through pictures of her***

2 comments:

Joy for the Seasons said...

I love that you took photos. There is a precious way to go about it and I think you did it, friend. Seems to be the southern way of doing things anyway, since when else do you have so much family together at one time? Praying for you and cannot wait until I can see you again and give you a HUGE HUG. Love you!

Mandy said...

Hugs Sonya! Lifting you and your family with prayer daily!