Much Has Happened-Beautiful Mom

So much has happened since I wrote on this blog in April and posted Chloe's birthday Smilebox. Spring has passed and also summer. Now we are into fall and the year is almost ready to draw to a close. On my birthday, March 31, our (my sister Joanne and me) "mommy" Marian Louise Meader, passed away from a massive stroke. The Sunday before, I got the call at church that Mommy had fallen and Joanne had taken her to the hospital. It is, of course, the call no one wants to get and my intestines immediately began to roll and a sickness came over me as I hurried to the car and then to the house and on to Florida. I got to the hospital in Daytona Beach about midnight and immediately went to my mother's room and found her there on a breathing machine and not really awake at all. I sat by her bed all night and for the next few days holding her hand and praying and talking to her. All the fears and feelings that you imagine at a time like this were mine, and Joanne's in those few days, but we found solace in the Lord and prayer. He was with us and helped us get through that time with peace and comfort. I stopped at the hospital chapel a few times to kneel in prayer and I know my prayers were answered. Mommy never responded, but I knew she could feel my presence and love for her. I only went to her house once or twice to shower and then back to her side. By Wednesday Joanne and I knew she would not get well so gave the ok to remove the breathing tube. With Joanne, Heather and Kristen with me, we held Mommy's hand until she took her last breath. We told her to go home, to Grandma Jennie and Daddy. In a short time she did just that.

Although it was my birthday, March 31, I felt it an honor to see her go home to the Lord on the very day 65 years earlier that I left the Lord to come to her. In the next few days, most of my kids came down to help and attend the funeral. We had a lovely family time, remembering Gram and all the wonderful things she did for us. I miss her so much. each day. Several times a day, I am reminded by something, about her and some memory of her life. I love you so much, Mommy, and look forward to the day we will run into each others arms and say, "I love you", face to face again.