These past couple of weeks have been the longest that I can think of having had for quite some time. It's been an emotional roller coaster for my family with my folk's 40th anniversary, my Uncle Jackie's death, my older brother's visit, my Uncle Jackie's funeral yesterday morning & the memorial celebration luncheon for him at the group home. Now it's Labor Day weekend.. 3 days of relaxation(well, hopefully!).
I was so.. incredibly proud of my fireflies & my ladybug yesterday and the graveside service & at the luncheon, too. They conducted themselves with amazing maturity & showed such awesome love & compassion towards Uncle Jackie's friends at the group home, too. I was/am proud and my heart smiled to see all 3 of them just make themselves at home & not be even the least bit concerned about the fact that they were in the midst of folks that have a variety of mental & physical disabilities. The "kids" at the group home had such a good time having my fireflies & my ladybug there with them. One little guy immediately latched onto my oldest firefly & wanted him to sit on the couch with him.. he had hugs & kisses for all of us when we arrived and when we left, too.
I was especially touched by one of the residents, Ricky, who said the most beautiful prayer for lunch & for my Uncle Jackie. What amazing faith this "child" has.. I was so blessed to be with him. It took him a little while to get what he needed to say to God out of his mouth, but it was awesome & so very precious. As we were leaving, Ricky took my hand, looked me in the eyes & said "God bless you".
God has blessed me indeed, Ricky. :)
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
busy week...
So.. last May, I opened my mouth at a PTO meeting & volunteered to co-chair the fall fundraiser for this year. (what was I thinking?!).. actually, I don't think that it's going to be horrible & my co-chair is super organized. The kick-off assemblies are in the morning.
Our younger firefly has a back-to-school ice cream social at his preschool tomorrow evening. He is very excited about ice cream & seeing his friends from last year, too. His first day back will be next Wednesday & he's going to go all day, 3 days a week this year. :)
It's another busy week around here.. Thursday morning we will be laying my sweet Uncle Jackie to rest, the group home where he lived is providing a catered lunch for all of us & his friends from there, at the group home afterwards. They are calling it a Celebration Luncheon to celebrate Jackie's life. :) I would appreciate your thoughts & prayers as we gather together to say goodbye one last time. Thursday evening we have orientation at the oldest firefly's school, too.
I have to share something special with you, too... we went to the group home yesterday to do some more of the paperwork for Jackie. Uncle Jackie loved elephants & we'd given him a countless assortment of stuffed ones over the years. After he died, we told the group home to share his collection with the other residents. Well, while we were there, Ladybug just happened to discover one of Jackie's cute little elephants(complete with his name on one ear & it's tummy). She was immediately drawn to it(she loves all things stuffed!)... but this was a little different--like she had an instant connection with the fact that it had belonged to her Great Uncle & she wasn't giving it up to anyone. I was able to get it away from her long enough for it to take a trip through the washer & dryer last night.. but she insisted on sleeping with it and had to have it as soon as she got up this morning, too. I am glad that she discovered it & fell in love with it.. how special that she found one Jackie's prized elephants. Ladybug will take good care of it for you, Jackie. :)
Ok.. now I am getting myself all upset again about Jackie.. sorry 'bout that. Thank you all(ok, all like 5 or so of you that read this regularly!) in advance for your thoughts & prayers.. they mean more than you know.
Our younger firefly has a back-to-school ice cream social at his preschool tomorrow evening. He is very excited about ice cream & seeing his friends from last year, too. His first day back will be next Wednesday & he's going to go all day, 3 days a week this year. :)
It's another busy week around here.. Thursday morning we will be laying my sweet Uncle Jackie to rest, the group home where he lived is providing a catered lunch for all of us & his friends from there, at the group home afterwards. They are calling it a Celebration Luncheon to celebrate Jackie's life. :) I would appreciate your thoughts & prayers as we gather together to say goodbye one last time. Thursday evening we have orientation at the oldest firefly's school, too.
I have to share something special with you, too... we went to the group home yesterday to do some more of the paperwork for Jackie. Uncle Jackie loved elephants & we'd given him a countless assortment of stuffed ones over the years. After he died, we told the group home to share his collection with the other residents. Well, while we were there, Ladybug just happened to discover one of Jackie's cute little elephants(complete with his name on one ear & it's tummy). She was immediately drawn to it(she loves all things stuffed!)... but this was a little different--like she had an instant connection with the fact that it had belonged to her Great Uncle & she wasn't giving it up to anyone. I was able to get it away from her long enough for it to take a trip through the washer & dryer last night.. but she insisted on sleeping with it and had to have it as soon as she got up this morning, too. I am glad that she discovered it & fell in love with it.. how special that she found one Jackie's prized elephants. Ladybug will take good care of it for you, Jackie. :)
Ok.. now I am getting myself all upset again about Jackie.. sorry 'bout that. Thank you all(ok, all like 5 or so of you that read this regularly!) in advance for your thoughts & prayers.. they mean more than you know.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
details finalized
As my sweet Uncle Jackie would say.. "well, well, well.." all the details seem to be finalized for his graveside service.
We will be putting him to rest in a private service this coming Thursday morning at 10am. I helped my folks pick out a beautiful urn & vault for him this past Wednesday, but it has all be somewhat surreal. I would love to go with my folks when they talk to the cemetery about Jackie's stone, too.. he loved elephants & I think it would be cool if they could engrave a tiny one on his stone.
I am not thrilled that the staff from the group home where he lived are being allowed to be at the private graveside services.. in my mind they don't have a right to be there.. they're not family & I don't feel that they did the very best they could to take care of Jackie in the last few months. My Dad is Jackie's legal guardian and has the final say.. so I will keep my mouth shut so as to not hurt my Dad's feelings. (that is why I am venting through my blog about it).
I am still on an emotional roller coaster.. I am sure that my husband, the fireflies & my ladybug are getting tired of my crazy mood swings this week.
We will be putting him to rest in a private service this coming Thursday morning at 10am. I helped my folks pick out a beautiful urn & vault for him this past Wednesday, but it has all be somewhat surreal. I would love to go with my folks when they talk to the cemetery about Jackie's stone, too.. he loved elephants & I think it would be cool if they could engrave a tiny one on his stone.
I am not thrilled that the staff from the group home where he lived are being allowed to be at the private graveside services.. in my mind they don't have a right to be there.. they're not family & I don't feel that they did the very best they could to take care of Jackie in the last few months. My Dad is Jackie's legal guardian and has the final say.. so I will keep my mouth shut so as to not hurt my Dad's feelings. (that is why I am venting through my blog about it).
I am still on an emotional roller coaster.. I am sure that my husband, the fireflies & my ladybug are getting tired of my crazy mood swings this week.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
silence & tears
It has been a few days since my last post... since Sunday evening, my life has been turned upside down.
Here is why:
"My Dad's youngest brother, Jack(who has downs syndrome), wasn't feeling well yesterday & had apparently thrown-up a lot of phlegm & there was some blood mixed in it. The person at the group home where he lives called my Dad around 4pm to say that she was going to take him to Alton Memorial emergency room.. but that she couldn't take him until 5pm when there was shift change or something. So.. evidently 5pm rolled around and she put him in the car(still fuzzy on whether it was her personal car or the group home's van).. in the front seat. (the group home is located in Pontoon Beach, IL).
She says that they were about 6 minutes out from the hospital when he just slumped over in the seat & was unresponsive.. she couldn't get a pulse/heartbeat. She told us that she figured she could get him to the emergency room faster driving him herself instead of waiting for an ambulance after calling 911(which, she never did.. no call was placed on behalf of Uncle Jackie). She raced him to the hospital and the doctors worked to get him to come back... they estimate that he didn't have a heartbeat for 10 to 20 minutes! All that we know for sure is that he slumped over in the carseat when they were supposedly 6 minutes from the hospital.. he could've been unresponsive longer than that & she didn't notice until he slumped over.. add that to the time that it took the ER staff to work on him.. the latter estimate may be more like the amount of time he didn't have a heartbeat.
We(Mom & Dad, Mark & myself) all rushed to Alton Memorial to be with him.. his heart-rate was finally stable and his blood pressure and respiration looked pretty good late last night when they moved him up to ICU. But.. because his brain was deprived of oxygen for so long.. they don't know what kind of damage was done. They did a brain scan on the way up to the ICU last night & it didn't show any bleeding on his brain. But.. the entire time that we were in the emergency room & with him in ICU.. his eyes were fixed & dilated and he was unresponsive. I just stood and held his hand and stroked his little head.
My Dad is Jackie's legal guardian & he spoke with my Uncle Don(who is in Florida) last night about decisions that will have to be made. As hard as it is to let go.. we all decided that we don't want the doctors and nurses to try any heroic measures if Jackie goes into cardiac arrest again. The doctors have been amazing & so.. very sweet to all of us throughout all of this. Jackie just turned 65 on July 2nd.. he has out-lived all predictions for his life expectancy by decades & the doctors commended all of us on the wonderful love & care that my Grandma gave him as a child and the love & support that we've all given him, too. They were kind words to hear in the midst of all of this.
Mark said last night that he was sure that my Grandma was waiting in heaven for Jackie with a plate full of his favorite cookies. :) We know that Jackie is going to be welcomed with open arms.. it's just hard for us to have to say goodbye. Jackie & I have always had a special bond.. from the time I was about Ladybug's age--it was so hard to see him hooked up to all the monitors and stuff & not responding to my voice last night. I honestly think that it's just his little body that is still working(and barely at that).. my sweet Jackie is already gone."
That is what I sent in an email early Monday morning... this is what followed last night to update everyone. It's far easier & less time consuming to just cut & paste what I wrote.
"My Uncle Jackie passed away this evening around 7pm. We, as a family, made the decision to take him off the ventilator this afternoon when we received the results of the EEG test that they did yesterday afternoon. The EEG showed no activity in his brain... it confirmed what we knew deep down when we were with him in the emergency room on Sunday night. Our sweet Jackie is with his Mama & Daddy in heaven.
We are all struggling with his passing, even though we know that he is happy & not in any kind of pain anymore. Please keep all of us in your prayers.. especially my Dad who has always taken on the role of father for Jackie. My Grandpa(Dad's father) died of what we think may have been stomach cancer when my Dad was just 7 years old.. Jackie was less than a year old.
Jackie was a special blessing in our family.. a true miracle baby from the start. My Grandma was over 40 & had both chicken pox & german measles while pregnant with him.. to top that off, for the first 4 month of his life, Jackie ran a high fever & had spinal meningitis, too(that was all in addition to being born with a severe case of Downs Syndrome). No one believed that he would make it past his first birthday... he made it just past his 65th!
Thank you again for all of the prayer support! You are all a blessing in our lives."
We all truly appreciate your thoughts & prayers as we mourn our sweet Jackie.
Here is why:
"My Dad's youngest brother, Jack(who has downs syndrome), wasn't feeling well yesterday & had apparently thrown-up a lot of phlegm & there was some blood mixed in it. The person at the group home where he lives called my Dad around 4pm to say that she was going to take him to Alton Memorial emergency room.. but that she couldn't take him until 5pm when there was shift change or something. So.. evidently 5pm rolled around and she put him in the car(still fuzzy on whether it was her personal car or the group home's van).. in the front seat. (the group home is located in Pontoon Beach, IL).
She says that they were about 6 minutes out from the hospital when he just slumped over in the seat & was unresponsive.. she couldn't get a pulse/heartbeat. She told us that she figured she could get him to the emergency room faster driving him herself instead of waiting for an ambulance after calling 911(which, she never did.. no call was placed on behalf of Uncle Jackie). She raced him to the hospital and the doctors worked to get him to come back... they estimate that he didn't have a heartbeat for 10 to 20 minutes! All that we know for sure is that he slumped over in the carseat when they were supposedly 6 minutes from the hospital.. he could've been unresponsive longer than that & she didn't notice until he slumped over.. add that to the time that it took the ER staff to work on him.. the latter estimate may be more like the amount of time he didn't have a heartbeat.
We(Mom & Dad, Mark & myself) all rushed to Alton Memorial to be with him.. his heart-rate was finally stable and his blood pressure and respiration looked pretty good late last night when they moved him up to ICU. But.. because his brain was deprived of oxygen for so long.. they don't know what kind of damage was done. They did a brain scan on the way up to the ICU last night & it didn't show any bleeding on his brain. But.. the entire time that we were in the emergency room & with him in ICU.. his eyes were fixed & dilated and he was unresponsive. I just stood and held his hand and stroked his little head.
My Dad is Jackie's legal guardian & he spoke with my Uncle Don(who is in Florida) last night about decisions that will have to be made. As hard as it is to let go.. we all decided that we don't want the doctors and nurses to try any heroic measures if Jackie goes into cardiac arrest again. The doctors have been amazing & so.. very sweet to all of us throughout all of this. Jackie just turned 65 on July 2nd.. he has out-lived all predictions for his life expectancy by decades & the doctors commended all of us on the wonderful love & care that my Grandma gave him as a child and the love & support that we've all given him, too. They were kind words to hear in the midst of all of this.
Mark said last night that he was sure that my Grandma was waiting in heaven for Jackie with a plate full of his favorite cookies. :) We know that Jackie is going to be welcomed with open arms.. it's just hard for us to have to say goodbye. Jackie & I have always had a special bond.. from the time I was about Ladybug's age--it was so hard to see him hooked up to all the monitors and stuff & not responding to my voice last night. I honestly think that it's just his little body that is still working(and barely at that).. my sweet Jackie is already gone."
That is what I sent in an email early Monday morning... this is what followed last night to update everyone. It's far easier & less time consuming to just cut & paste what I wrote.
"My Uncle Jackie passed away this evening around 7pm. We, as a family, made the decision to take him off the ventilator this afternoon when we received the results of the EEG test that they did yesterday afternoon. The EEG showed no activity in his brain... it confirmed what we knew deep down when we were with him in the emergency room on Sunday night. Our sweet Jackie is with his Mama & Daddy in heaven.
We are all struggling with his passing, even though we know that he is happy & not in any kind of pain anymore. Please keep all of us in your prayers.. especially my Dad who has always taken on the role of father for Jackie. My Grandpa(Dad's father) died of what we think may have been stomach cancer when my Dad was just 7 years old.. Jackie was less than a year old.
Jackie was a special blessing in our family.. a true miracle baby from the start. My Grandma was over 40 & had both chicken pox & german measles while pregnant with him.. to top that off, for the first 4 month of his life, Jackie ran a high fever & had spinal meningitis, too(that was all in addition to being born with a severe case of Downs Syndrome). No one believed that he would make it past his first birthday... he made it just past his 65th!
Thank you again for all of the prayer support! You are all a blessing in our lives."
We all truly appreciate your thoughts & prayers as we mourn our sweet Jackie.
Friday, August 15, 2008
a wonderful evening with amazing women
Tonight was my big Secret Sister's Dinner and it was wonderful. I am not just saying that because I was "in-charge" of all the festivities this evening. ;)
Seriously, we all had a lovely time at our dinner this evening.. good food & good fellowship with a group of ladies who I love & admire. This was our 16th dinner--we started our group 8 years ago(two dinner per year). It doesn't seem like it has been that long since we started it, but after thinking about it, we did start up when my oldest firefly was about 18 months old & he is soon to be 9 1/2 years old.
When we first started there were about 60 ladies involved, over the years participation has fluctuated a great deal.. this time around we only have about 16 ladies who drew names this evening. Our dinners are always a fun time of fellowship and it is neat to "finally"(we draw new names every 6 months) find out who has been encouraging & spoiling us. It is hard to describe the atmosphere of excitement & genuine loving friendship that is in the air whenever we get together for our special evenings. You can truly feel God's presence. :)
I am so very thankful for all of the ladies, my dear sisters in Christ, who God has placed in my life. They are all amazing & beautiful and I have learned(& am still learning) so many wonderful things about God & His grace. We don't always see eye-to-eye on everything, but we can all learn from each other--through our triumphs, disappointments, and heartaches.
I can't wait to start encouraging & spoiling my "new" Secret Sister! She was recently baptized & I am really looking forward to getting to know her better & hopefully be a positive example in her life, too. :)
It has been a long week getting ready for this evening.. but it was all worth it. Now, dreamland is beckoning. Tomorrow is another Saturday to be filled with working on the house & I have baking to do in prep for my big brother's visit this coming week. Sunday is also my parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary, too!
Seriously, we all had a lovely time at our dinner this evening.. good food & good fellowship with a group of ladies who I love & admire. This was our 16th dinner--we started our group 8 years ago(two dinner per year). It doesn't seem like it has been that long since we started it, but after thinking about it, we did start up when my oldest firefly was about 18 months old & he is soon to be 9 1/2 years old.
When we first started there were about 60 ladies involved, over the years participation has fluctuated a great deal.. this time around we only have about 16 ladies who drew names this evening. Our dinners are always a fun time of fellowship and it is neat to "finally"(we draw new names every 6 months) find out who has been encouraging & spoiling us. It is hard to describe the atmosphere of excitement & genuine loving friendship that is in the air whenever we get together for our special evenings. You can truly feel God's presence. :)
I am so very thankful for all of the ladies, my dear sisters in Christ, who God has placed in my life. They are all amazing & beautiful and I have learned(& am still learning) so many wonderful things about God & His grace. We don't always see eye-to-eye on everything, but we can all learn from each other--through our triumphs, disappointments, and heartaches.
I can't wait to start encouraging & spoiling my "new" Secret Sister! She was recently baptized & I am really looking forward to getting to know her better & hopefully be a positive example in her life, too. :)
It has been a long week getting ready for this evening.. but it was all worth it. Now, dreamland is beckoning. Tomorrow is another Saturday to be filled with working on the house & I have baking to do in prep for my big brother's visit this coming week. Sunday is also my parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary, too!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
update on my friend mary
I just wanted to post an update about my friend, Mary. Please continue to pray for her & her family.
We were told at church last night that her sister is not doing well at all & the family has been called to her bedside. Mary's sister suffers from C.O.P.D and is now in the intensive care unit and is totally dependent on a ventilator. Don & Mary(despite her own struggle with pneumonia right now) have gone to be with her sister & the rest of the family in southern Illinois.
As if they haven't been through enough in the last month... they got more bad news this past week. Their beloved dog, who Mary saved from their burning house last month, has been diagnosed with some form of cancer. When it rains, it pours!
We know that God has a plan for all of this and we are praying for His wisdom & comfort for Mary, Don and the rest of their family right now. Thank you for joining us in lifting them up in prayer.
We were told at church last night that her sister is not doing well at all & the family has been called to her bedside. Mary's sister suffers from C.O.P.D and is now in the intensive care unit and is totally dependent on a ventilator. Don & Mary(despite her own struggle with pneumonia right now) have gone to be with her sister & the rest of the family in southern Illinois.
As if they haven't been through enough in the last month... they got more bad news this past week. Their beloved dog, who Mary saved from their burning house last month, has been diagnosed with some form of cancer. When it rains, it pours!
We know that God has a plan for all of this and we are praying for His wisdom & comfort for Mary, Don and the rest of their family right now. Thank you for joining us in lifting them up in prayer.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
all in a day's work
Well, our younger firefly ended up coming home & sleeping in his own bed instead of having a sleepover at my folk's house last night. Apparently, he just needed some Mommy & Daddy time without his big brother around. ;) I can dig that.
Today has been fairly quiet around our house... my younger firefly & my ladybug have been playing together off & on all day long without too many sharing issues. I've been busy working on stuff for my Secret Sister group's big dinner this Friday evening. My co-leader has been having really bad last couple of months, so the entire thing is on my shoulders for Friday.. not a big deal, it just means that I have to focus & get it done.
Speaking of my co-leader, please keep her & her family in your thoughts & prayers. Mary & her husband, Don(who is an elder for our congregation), lost pretty much everything in a house fire on July 7th.. they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on July 26th and not quite a week later, Mary's sister passed away in New Mexico. Upon returning from her funeral, Mary has come down with pneumonia and another of her sister's is in the hospital on a ventilator dying from the same condition that the sister they just buried had. I am amazed by their faith and am praying hard that this stormy season in their lives is almost over.
Oh yeah.. on top of my added responsibilities.. my folk's washing machine stopped working! So, I am working on doing several loads of their laundry to get them caught up until they can get someone out to their house to either fix the machine or they buy a new one. It's really not a big deal.. like I've said before, I enjoy doing laundry(I know.. I'm a freak!). Besides.. they have let me use their "laundrymat" on numerous occassions when I have had issues with mine.. so turn about is fair play.
Well.. I need to go get dinner started & make sure everyone has clothes ready to change into for church this evening, too. My older brother is coming up from Texas this coming week to visit & celebrate my folk's 40th wedding anniversary(which is officially this Sunday) and I've got a bunch of baking to do for that, too!! Hopefully I will be able to find the time to post again soon.
Today has been fairly quiet around our house... my younger firefly & my ladybug have been playing together off & on all day long without too many sharing issues. I've been busy working on stuff for my Secret Sister group's big dinner this Friday evening. My co-leader has been having really bad last couple of months, so the entire thing is on my shoulders for Friday.. not a big deal, it just means that I have to focus & get it done.
Speaking of my co-leader, please keep her & her family in your thoughts & prayers. Mary & her husband, Don(who is an elder for our congregation), lost pretty much everything in a house fire on July 7th.. they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on July 26th and not quite a week later, Mary's sister passed away in New Mexico. Upon returning from her funeral, Mary has come down with pneumonia and another of her sister's is in the hospital on a ventilator dying from the same condition that the sister they just buried had. I am amazed by their faith and am praying hard that this stormy season in their lives is almost over.
Oh yeah.. on top of my added responsibilities.. my folk's washing machine stopped working! So, I am working on doing several loads of their laundry to get them caught up until they can get someone out to their house to either fix the machine or they buy a new one. It's really not a big deal.. like I've said before, I enjoy doing laundry(I know.. I'm a freak!). Besides.. they have let me use their "laundrymat" on numerous occassions when I have had issues with mine.. so turn about is fair play.
Well.. I need to go get dinner started & make sure everyone has clothes ready to change into for church this evening, too. My older brother is coming up from Texas this coming week to visit & celebrate my folk's 40th wedding anniversary(which is officially this Sunday) and I've got a bunch of baking to do for that, too!! Hopefully I will be able to find the time to post again soon.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)