Where has the time gone? For over a month I have been on the road. Paige and I spent 2 weeks in Vegas with my parents...Tyler was supposed to join us for Thanksgiving but we had a change of plans so he spent the holiday with his family. The Monday before Thanksgiving we received a call that my grandpa had been admitted into the hospital. He had a stroke about 6 months ago so he has regular check-ups to monitor his progress, but this checkup wasn't good. A tumor was found on his brain and further testing showed it is what had caused the strokes and had been there this whole time. I won't get into every detail of the past few weeks but my grandpa left this life last week and he will forever be in our hearts. Although the past few weeks have been terribly hard, I have comfort in knowing my grandpa is in Heaven watching over us and even though he was taken from us sooner than we would have liked, life is too short no matter how long we spend on this earth. I am thankful for memories, thankful grandpa will live in my heart forever, thankful he gave a piece of himself to so many of us. I see him in my dad, my uncle, myself, my brother, my cousins and everyone he touched along the way. I hope to instill some of his amazing qualities in my parenting and in my child(ren).
Every time someone close is taken from us, we learn a little more about cherishing the time we have with family and friends, doing good for others, making sure those close to us know how very important to us and thanking them for all they have done for us. As I sat with my grandpa at the hospital I couldn't help but think about all of the most important moments in my life. Christmas's, Thanksgiving's, high school graduation, college graduation, my wedding, and the birth of my daughter...and lots of special times in between, he was there, my grandpa was there with me-cheering me on through it all. Had I thanked him? Did he know how much it meant to me to have him by my side? I am thankful I could be by his side, holding his hand and having Paige tickling his fingers so he knew we were with him on his final journey of this life. I have joy in knowing he will be watching over us from Heaven and thankful God chose him to be my grandpa.
"Sure, there's a heap o' sense in some nonsense, mind that! And never be so foolish, just because ye grow up and get a little book knowledge, as to turn up your nose and mock at the things ye loved and believed in when ye were a little lad. Them that do, lose one of the biggest cures for heartache there is in the world, mind that!" -Ruth Sawyer: This Way to Christmas
"All glory be to God on high,
And on the earth be peace!
Good-will henceforth, from Heaven to men
Begin and never cease." Christmas Hymn
I am counting my blessings and thankful for the time with my family and friends. Although there has been great heartache this holiday, there has been great joy spending time with my parents, my uncle, great aunts & uncles, cousins and so many others. Thankful Paige has been surrounded by so much family--which truly is the gift of the season. Thank you for all of the sweet emails, messages, thoughts, & prayers during this time.
I have lots to catch up on the blog...Paige has lots of updates, NYC and so much more so be on the lookout!
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