What We Needed

Beautiful!

Selfie...

We have had our little beach trip planned for a couple of months now and have been looking forward to it so much.  Memaw passed away Tuesday morning.  She has been under hospice care for a little over week. When Paula died in June we say a noticeable decline in Memaw.  After Tony died she took a dramatic turn within a few days.  She was taken to the hospital where she told her doctor and long-time family friend to "let her go home (heaven)".  The decision was made for her to have hospice care at home.  We have been very fortunate that she has had 24/7 sitters since shortly after Pepaw died in 2006.  Those same sitters have taken care of her ever since.  Although our family has suffered such loss in the past few months we know that Paula, Tony, Pepaw and now Memaw are together again and rejoicing in Heaven!

Her funeral was planned for Wednesday afternoon at 4:30.  Katherine's school closes at 5:00 and Luke was out of school.  I arranged for a friend to watch them for me to attend the service.  To add even more on us both kids woke up sick Wednesday morning.  Luke had a tummy ache and Katherine had a high fever. Mom was in Tullahoma with Nanny for an outpatient procedure.  The kids seemed to improve throughout the day so I decided to take them to the service.  Katherine's fever was at bay with Motrin and Luke hadn't had any other tummy problems.  Honestly, they did great.  It gave me a lot of opportunity to talk to them about heaven, funerals and answer lots of questions.  The service was very nice with two pastors sharing stories and good memories of Memaw.  After the entombment the family went to supper.  I have been watching old episodes of The Wonder Years while I am on the treadmill lately.  At dinner I found myself narrating the scene like Kevin Arnold does in the show.  It is amazing how the landscape of our family has changed so much in a few short months.  As I looked around the table at in-laws, cousins and friends I had an overwhelming feeling of peace and the feeling we are venturing in to our "new normal".

Paul and I struggled with the decision if we should do our quick beach trip.  When it was all said and done we decided we desperately needed this time away - even if it was only a few days. We got up early this morning and made our way to Florida.  This is the first time we have traveled without Mom or Bill and Paula. I was a little leery of how the kids would act without someone entertaining them the whole time.  They did wonderful!  We made a couple of stops but managed to pull into Santa Rosa Beach around 12:30.  We are looking forward to some relaxation and fun!