Sunday, February 14, 2016

Love'im Up.


When I need advice is when I miss my Mom and Dad the most, which is funny because neither were much for giving it...But still I miss being able to share with them the joys and even some of the sorrows....

Dear friends have been my compensatory blessing in this life, and have always filled the gaps, when my heart longs for a mother's or father's love...

Such a call came a few days ago...we talked of joys and worries, pains and hope...and somewhere in the middle, she shared a story of an orphaned calf they had taken in long ago. Worried about how to care for their new charge, they inquired of the farmer what to do....
"Oh just LOVE 'im up! " they were told. "So we did..."

Love 'im up.
When you don't know what to do just love them.

Sage advice...

How often, when I've prayed for my husband, my kids, my friends and even my enemies, that has been my answer....Just love {them}. 

In the moment I needed the reminder, my friend remembered her calf and the long ago lesson of love.

Just. love'im. up.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Forgetting February

It's not going to bother this time.... It's been long enough...I'm over it....

But I only made it 12 hours into February before I was a mess and the tears were rolling. It was one of those Facebook memories, a blog post from four years ago...

After years of my Dad refusing all avenues and offers of help.....Adult protective services of Orange County had called my sister after an anonymous report had led to a visit to my Dad's house...he was living in squalor, his house infested with rodents, and he had had nothing but coffee, wine and cigarettes for months and had lost nearly 90 lbs in the 11 months since either of us had seen him...

That February we rushed all avanues of help possible to rescue my Dad, but it was really too late and he died 9 weeks later....

As I read that blog post the tragedies of other Feburarys flooded back and I was lost in the grief....

The call from the ICU in Lethbridge that Mom was on life support... "Who let me live??" was the first question she scrolled across a white board, while still intubated...She would live, but never wanted too.

The foggy February morning a year later, Mom won't make the night, you need to come now...jumping on a plane...mom would rally and we would head home, after a rather annoyed goodbye ...

Only to have the doctor call early on a Sunday morning 4 days later...she gone, she had a horrific fall...

We race back on airplanes for the second time that February, kids still in their twenties, should never have to bury a parent.

The cold Alberta wind whipped our faces, as we placed roses on her casket before they would lower it to its resting place, February was even over. 

In a month devoted to hearts and love, we have experienced much heart ache...something I wish I could simply forget, but hearts don't work that way... And my heart will always ache a little more than it should in February.





Thursday, January 28, 2016

Challenger




I had totally faked sick that morning,  just so I could stay home and watch it...
I was laying on my Mom's antique white in the upstairs bedroom of our house on Hillock View Plaza, in Yorba Linda, the live news coverage had just begun on our band new 20 inch Zenith color tv......

******

I loved all things space as a kid...Astronaut and space posters hung on the walls of my bedroom, and I begged relentlessly to go to space camp in Florida...I was positive I wanted to be an astronaut...but the closest I ever got, was getting that Astronaut Cabbage Patch kid I had begged Santa for....




So that January morning, my eleven year old self mustered a believable fever and watch the live broadcast...

The fireball followed by the "Y" cloud took minutes to register...

They're gone....they're really gone...

Tears...

The first tragedy I will remember forever...

In that moment my Astronaut dream ended.


Until we moved to Canada this poster hug on my wall....



But embossed in white lettering in the corner was a quote from Ronald Reagan....

“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them...as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God. ”


And I have never forgotten that morning I faked a fever or those astronauts.


Saturday, January 23, 2016

Your Religion.




It actually surprised me when one of my kids came home in tears....

In a place where it is considered inappropriate to discuss such things, a near stranger, took a few uneducated pot-shots  at said offspring's being Momorn and then said.... 

"Oh don't worry I don't hate you, but I DESPISE your religion..." 

....well alrighty then...

It had been quickly and appropriately handled by the powers that be, hours before...but my kid was still deeply wounded by the surprising exchange.

We live in a place where there are very few LDS families and most people here only have a vague understanding of what it means to be Mormon. But I personally have never been met with anything but kindness and genuine curiosity when someone discovers we are Mormon. Even the one time a doctor asking if we drank or smoked and then asking how many kids we had said "What are you, Mormon??? Followed by "but only the one wife kind, right?!", that was hilarious...but no one has ever been unkind, ever.

So I was surprised as my kid related their experience, through tears. Despise is such a strong word, I can't think of ever despising anything in life, unless you count Brussels sprouts  when I was four.

My kid actually expressed sorrow and pity for this near stranger, after they were through the hurt and annoyance. 

I guess you just pray for them and move on...yup.

Kindness, you can never go wrong with kindness.

Truth is I still despise Brussels sprouts. ;)






 

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Steps Back

Even in the midst of miracles, it's a dance, two steps forward and some steps back....
After a positive few days, Sunday morning came and we stumbled. Frustration. Fear. 

Stay by his side today... I listened. 

It breaks my heart, when there is so little I can do to help him. Sunday felt like we were sliding....

"I asked _________ and  ________ to come give me a blessing, I hope that's okay...."

I nearly fell off my chair and had to turn away, so Superman didn't see my tears...

In the midst of an illness that distorts your ability to feel of  your worth and value and takes you to a level of suffering that makes you question how a loving Heavenly Father could ask you to walk this road...reaching out is an act of bravery and courage. This was the first time in five years Grant has asked...

Heavenly Father knew whom Grant needed that Sunday.

Sweet words of succour and solace and hope....


Some of life's sweetest moments happen on difficult days. How grateful I am to know we never walk this road alone, even when we are asked to take a few steps back. 

We are loved and blessed.














Friday, January 15, 2016

Another Slow Motion Miracle


I sat holding Superman's hand as tears roll down both our cheeks, the minutes tick like hours, in the moments  before we leave for a much needed doctors appointment.

December, probably our roughest yet, but we had little recourse until after the holidays....

We needed help, but the fear and worry were overwhelming as we wondered what that help might look like, the price we may have to pay. 

I had prayed and prayed in the days leading up to Grant's appointment and a few very close to us, had fasted with me for him. But in those moments leading up to that appointment tears, were the only words spoken...

So many tries...side effects or no affect or risk too high...an effective treatment took years to find {a slow motion miracle} the last go around, so now what?

Difficult honesty. But our honesty met with expertise and compassion....

An additional diagnosis.  {mental illnesses can actually co-exist, oh the things we learn...}

"You'll know quickly whether this is going to work or not."

We walk out reassured that we are back on the road, but unsure how quickly we will find a treatment that will work.

We spent dinner Monday reading the four pages of side effects and information {so romantic} of an additional medication and wondered...

Hopeful, but prepared for another slow motion miracle.

But no side effects have come, each day a little calmer than before. This is a first. 

Not sure at what point you can call something a miracle, but I'm calling it...

The battle will come again, that is the nature of Supermans illness, but we'll gratefully take each good day as the come. Thankful for each miracle and each miracle-worker in our lives.














Sunday, January 10, 2016

Sunday. Short and Sweet.


So just as the kids and I are walking out the door, all the lights in the house flicker....odd it's not even stormy out...

As we walk into our small chapel it was oddly dark and quiet, with only the security spotlights shining at each doorway...and the soft chatter of those who had arrived early. "What no wifi ???" (priorities?!?!) Dallyn, mumbles. It is only then that it dons on me, Oh the power's out...

Church begins with no sound system, organ, and only a little light streaming through the windows on a foggy morning....
I'm singing along to the opening hymn "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" and I suddenly, realize how ironically hilarious the lyrics are.... 
Okay I'm the only one that found this hilarious and chuckled through the entire hymn, but come on, HF has to have a sense of humour, cause you can't plan stuff like that....

I had controlled myself by the time it came to Ward Business and beamed a little as Bailey was called to serve as a counsellor in the Young Women's presidency. I instantly remembered being called to the same calling as a twenty year old and how fun and fulfilling that time was in my life and how many of those girls I served are now my dear dear friends. It will be such a great thing for Bailey...

We sang the sacrament hymn and partook of the sacrament, the near darkness adding to its sacredness.

Our Bishop, then announced that Church would end for the day...
Dallyn leans over "Bishop O's my favourite!!!"

A Sunday, short and sweet.