I am Thankful for Changes

Well, it is Thanksgiving.  It has been a while since I have written anything.  Lots has happened since I last wrote.

Darren and I took a marriage class at church and discovered so much about each other that we did not know or had forgotten.  It really helped our marriage and our parenting.  It is hard to believe that we have been together almost 10 years now.  It seems so long, but so short too.  We were reflecting this morning about what  we have been through,  three deaths, 2 major health scares with our family, 2 miscarriages, 2 kids, job changes, good and bad, not to mention the growing pains of our relationship. God has blessed us with each other.  He makes me laugh just about every day.  God knew I needed that!
 
In June, we had to put Granny into a memory care unit.  She has a dramatic entrance.  She fell and has 3 brain bleeds.  She was in the hospital for a few days and went back with hospice.  She did well, but her dementia progressed.  In October she went to the hospital and had a UTI and Pneumonia.  She had lots of agitation and returned to the memory care unit.  She never recovered.  She passed on October 15.  It was a Tuesday.  The process took quite a wile.  Granny was always stubborn.  I stayed Friday, Saturday and Sunday day and night.  Monday I decided maybe she did not want me there.  I went home and was so exhausted.  Tuesday I had to take the kids to school and pick them up.  I took them to my best friends house, and was going to go be with her.  She died 2 minutes before I got there.  I was so thankful that her suffering was finally over.  I am a hospice nurse and I see people dying all the time, but sitting there with her was the hardest thing I have ever done.  My mind was trying to put things in order and get things together for the funeral and all, but I was physically stuck in that room with her.  Being a nurse, I hate to sit and not be able to fix it.  It was excruciating.

Uncle Bill was at the house by himself when Granny moved.  We were working on getting him into a assisted living. The first week of September, he has a small heart attack, and had to have a pacemaker placed because of a low heart rate.  He went to a rehab facility and was there when Granny died.  I  know that it was very hard on him because he had lived with her his whole life and he was the definition of "Mamma's Boy".  I also know it was hard for him to not get to be there.  He moved to the same assisted living facility that Granny was at about a week ago.  He is liking it so far. We are hoping that he will begin to feel at home.  He still thinks he will get his driver's license back and get to move back "home" where ever that may be.

When Granny died, that put her assets into a cluster and they are to be put in a trust for Uncle Bill to help with his care.  I have been going nuts trying to get things together for that. Still working on it.  That is going to take some time. Not even mentioning the house that they lived in.  That needs to be cleaned out and readied for sale. Don't exactly know when that will get done. 

The kids are doing well, but are busy too.  We have  Tae Kwan Do 2 days a week and swimming class one day a week.  With my schedule, I work on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday evenings, so I end up with only one free evening a week.  Addy is having some difficulty with pronouncing some of her words and she is set to be evaluated by a speech therapist so who knows when that will fit in. Darren and I have been working lots so it is hard to get it all in! 

Life keeps getting busier and busier.  I don't thing it will get easier any time soon.  I am just depending on God to help us get through it all. 

Today on Thanksgiving, I am thankful for all the changes that have happened in my life recently.  I know that God has used them to teach me lessons that I have needed to learn.  I will continue to look to Him to lead me and show me the way that he wants to lead me.