Joyous Tomorrows

I haven't written about the death of my sweet husband.  My heart has been heavy in that area since 9:00 am on December 23, 2008. The 22nd had been a busy time. Children coming in and out of the house to visit with their dad because we all knew that time for him was getting shorter by the day. I had cleansed his wounds, and tucked him in, then I had lain down on the sofa next to him to rest.  I apparently fell fast asleep, because I was awakened by my son and his wife as they prepared breakfast in the kitchen.  I sat up and immediately noticed that Ned wasn't breathing right.  I ran over to the side of the bed, and saw his oxygen had slipped off.  I quickly put it back on, but he wasn't responsive to my touch or to my calling his name.  I could tell he was in a Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern.  I called to my children and then reached for my phone to call the Hospice team that he was dying.  While I was on the phone, he took his last breath with...

Aine urged us to go through our photos for the last 10 years and create a post using the photos for the past 10 years. I am in a world of hurt.  When my children left home, I sent the bulk of pictures of them with them.  After that along came digital cameras (love them) BUT I had saved all my pictures, organized beautifully, on my external hard drive so I would not lose any... Guess what, computer is fine... external is in the shop, with prayers. Since my picture capacity is low, I (this is with a wink) decided to have a historical reenactment of Christmas's past.  Last year (repeat "last year") I purchased some awesome Christmas fabric with the goal in mind to make pillow cases for all my grandchildren for the following Christmas. Do you think I actually followed through with that?  You are right... I did not.  So on Thursday (3 days ago) I got my fabric out, and began my marathon to finish my pillowcases in time to mail them with in 3 days. I have fin...

Aine at Blue Raspberry Sunday  gave the prompt writing about a talent that you or an ancestor had.  Since I am trying to write my stories for my family about me, it will be a talent I have.  A talent I have been blessed with would be called God given.  I did nothing to develop it, it is just me. I was blessed with the talent of looking outward and caring for others.  Looking back one incident that stands out to me, probably not the first time I had done, but a memorable experience; was when my mother caught the hillside on fire. We live halfway up a sizable hill, not a mountain, but definitely could wind you if you walked up it.  (Side note:  Rocky Mountain states say Oklahoma mountains are hills. J )  In the 1950s, people burned their trash in the country.  My dad, to be safe, had a 50 gallon barrel with a mesh wire top to keep the fire contained.  This day, my mom had lifted the lid to add some paper to what she was already b...