Kissed the World Goodbye

Last Tuesday night was difficult and painful, but also full of blessings and love. My little brother Jonathan called to tell me that our dear Grandma was struggling to breathe, and that the hospice nurse thought she probably wouldn't last til morning. He asked me to call the rest of our siblings, and while I did that, my wonderful husband ran to our bedroom and started packing our bags, saying "we ARE going to Magnolia tonight!" Less than 30 minutes later we were in the car, bags packed and a sleeping Madi in the back seat. We didn't tell we were coming, and when we walked into the house at 1:45 AM my mom started crying, she was so happy we came. Women from church were gathered in the living room, but the hospice nurse had gone home for the night. They had gotten Grandma's breathing under control with medications, oxygen, and breathing treatments, and she wasn't in pain or distress, but she hadn't opened her eyes in hours. 

The remainder of the night I took turns with my mom and Aunt Heidi sitting up with Grandma, stroking her hair, kissing her face and holding her hand as soft praise music played in the background. It was a heart-wrenching night, but I wouldn't have missed that experience for anything. I'm so thankful she was able to be at home, in her own bed, wearing her own clothes, surrounded by family who loved her. At about 7 in the morning I laid down to get a little sleep, but a couple of hours later Mom woke me up to tell me Grandma had opened her eyes. I hurried downstairs and, sure enough, she was looking around the room at whoever was there, and we could tell she could really see us. Aunt Heidi, Mom, and I received the most beautiful gift from Grandma there at the end. She turned her head, looked directly at each one of us, and gave us each a smile. My Grandma had the most beautiful smile. She gave smiles to every single person she met, full of joy and love. After those last few smiles, she closed her eyes for the last time, and a couple of hours later we said goodbye as she flew away to Jesus. 

Later that afternoon, Aunt Heidi played the piano and Jonathan his guitar and we all held each other and sang together through our tears. It was hard to get through the last verse of the Untitled Hymn:

And with your final heartbeat

Kiss the world goodbye

Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side

And fly to Jesus

Fly to Jesus

Fly to Jesus, and live!

I'm going to miss you so much, Grandma. But I know I'll be seeing you again soon.

Tuesday's adventures

Super-heroes of the kitchen! 

A trip to the "Wacky Hair" styling salon

And a meager attempt to do Pat's hair

Smiley-face pancakes and friendly squirrels

The past week has been pretty eventful for the Smiths. Madi's cousin Emily came to stay with us for about a week, and the two of them have been livin' it up! We started off Friday morning with some chocolate chip pancakes, covered with chocolate syrup, powdered sugar, and whipped cream. My theory is that the very healthy freshly-ground whole wheat flour and glass of milk canceled out all the sugar. That's logical...right? Oh well, it's summer...and they've been going swimming almost every day anyway.

Earlier in the week, I got a very encouraging phone call from my future employer. I was scheduled to start working on the med-surg floor of a brand-new hospital in July, but since there were only night shift positions available, I had decided to start off as part-time in order to be able to work day shifts (night shift was brutal when I was single, I can only imagine how difficult it would be to juggle that with married life). Anyway, the happy phone call I received last week was an offer for a FULL-time job, as a day shift slot had just opened up! After accepting the job over the phone, I hung up, did a little dance in my living room, and called Pat to let him know the good news. It's really a huge blessing to have a full-time position lined up, since it will provide medical benefits and enable Pat to finish school sooner. I'll just have to jump back into nursing a little faster than I thought. Pray for me, I'm nervous! Planning to spend some time next week brushing up on my pharmacology and heart rhythms.

Saturday the hospital had a grand opening community event, which my friend JoAnn and I took the girls to. It was a spectacular party! There was a scavenger hunt that took us all over the hospital, a zipline, multiple bouncy-houses and carnival games, a concert, free food, drinks, and ice cream....

And a giant walk-through blown-up human heart!

I thought the heart was pretty awesome. 

Oh, and there was face-painting. Needless to say, Madi and Emily had a great time.

After church on Sunday, Pat and I took the girls to feed ducks in the park. It turned out to be ducks AND squirrels - the park was full of very tame squirrels, who came running when they saw us and begged for pieces of bread.

And this week, we've been going to Backyard Bible Club (kinda like Vacation Bible School), which has been a big hit.

On a side note, married life has been teaching me a few things. One thing I have learned is that certain tasks, which used to be so simple, have become much more difficult. Brushing my hair, for example. I never used to think twice about brushing my hair. These days, I never know when I'm going to get tackled in the middle of my little hair routine, thrown over a shoulder, and triumphantly photographed. Marriage is tough, man.  ;-)

Sweet Summertime

Summer has begun! For most of the month of May, Madi kept saying how much she was looking forward to summer break. But on the last day of school, as I was walking her home, she was pretty bummed out. "I wish I could come up to school again tomorrow and see my teacher," she sighed. But no worries, the depression didn't last long. She soon decided that summer break isn't so bad.

It's a time for hanging out with friends, in matching bathing suits, and going to the pool every day...

It's a time for staying up late, putting on fashion shows for your parents, until you crash on the couch at 1 am...

And it's a time for spending half a week at your aunt's house, playing with your cousin non-stop. Yeah, summer's not so bad.

And from the grown-up end of things, summer's a time for going on a honeymoon...for Pat to come straight home after work instead of to night classes...for getting to know other married couples at church...for skydiving (maybe?)...for hanging out with friends...and for Ruth to finally get a job!