It's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog and for the most part, it's been due to a very busy summer. A summer filled with home and yard work, parties, short trips and house guests. All pretty normal, generally happy things, right?
You know the old saying, "It never rains, but it pours"??
Well, at the moment, I need... no, my family and I, need your prayers. And in all honesty, if you could spare a few good vibes and pass them along in our general direction, they'd be very much welcomed as well.
I know that we aren't the only people who have something difficult happening to them and one of the most important lessons I've learned in my 50 years on this planet, is to be truly grateful for the blessings that I do have, but at the moment, life is throwing us a bucket full of curve balls and they all seem to be flying across the plate at once.
On Thursday of last week, we received a call from Hubby's brother saying that their uncle, who has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease, is missing. The last time that anyone saw him was on Saturday afternoon. On Monday, his empty, out of gas car, was found sitting on the side of a very rural and desolate highway in Pennsylvania, seven or eight hours North of his home. The local and state police have searched by ground and air and they have been doing everything in their power to find him, but as of this writing, we still have nothing.
On Friday morning, my sister-in-law's mother passed away, following a brief illness. My brother-in-law, sister in law, their three grown children and our daughter, will all be arriving from out of town, starting on Wednesday, for the calling hours and funeral on Thursday and Friday. She lost her father at almost this same time last year and I think it's starting to really sink in for all of us, that we're at "that age" when the people we've relied on to guide and support us through our lives, are reaching the part of their lives, where their journey here on Earth is coming to a close. It's hard to lose the people that we love. And it's hard to come to grips with the realization that an entire generation is slipping away.
And as those of you who've known me for a while are aware, Hubby and I lost our precious younger daughter, when she was just a little one, from a fatal reaction to a routine medication. She was a miracle baby, who blessedly came into our life, after several years of believing that we wouldn't ever be able to have another child. Well, yesterday was her birthday. She would have been 12 years old.
Normally, at this time each year, I take a little time off from blogging, to reflect, remember and miss her in my own way. Not that we don't think of her and talk about her every single day... We do. She was and still is at the very core of our lives as a family and she'll never, ever be far from our hearts, or our memories. It's just that on days like her birthday or the anniversary of her passing, in order to be able to go on through the rest of the year with some semblance of normalcy, I need to be still and to heal.
When you lose a child, I don't believe that you ever stop mourning for them. You pray and you move forward and do your best to live a life that has purpose and meaning, but that life is never quite the same again. I know that I'll have "these days" for the rest of my life, and that's OK. I gave myself permission a long time ago, to grieve in my own way and in my own time.
But, as you can see, we are in need of all of the prayer we can get at the moment. So, if you could spare a moment, to say a few words of your own choosing, it would be more appreciated than you could ever know.
Thank you and God Bless you all, for being the most amazing, supportive community of people, that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Mary
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