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Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Thursday 15 August 2019

A Time to Live


What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven in to the lives of others. ~ unknown

Hello my dear friends! I have been away for a little over a month and so much has happened since I took my break. I will try to bring you up to date in this post.

About three weeks ago, I had a lovely visit with my two aunts and a cousin who came over from New Brunswick to see my mother and me. Alas, my mother was sleeping and unresponsive when they visited her at the nursing home. That was disappointing! We did however enjoy each other's company when they came to my home.

My middle son arrived the end of July and we had a wonderful visit. We spent a lot of time together and he spent a lot of time by himself out at the beach and walking around the city of Charlottetown, his old stomping grounds. 


It was definitely a different kind of vacation this year!

While he was home, my mother passed away. We had gone in to visit her on Sunday afternoon, the 4th of August, and she passed that night. It was as though she had been waiting for him. Since December, she had seen all three of my boys. One lives here but two of them live very far away. The youngest lives in the States and the other lives on the west coast. She was less than a month from her ninetieth birthday.


So, most of last week we were busy making arrangements and cleaning out her room at the nursing home.

My mother on her eightieth birthday.

Our youngest son was in Portugal at a Math Conference and unfortunately, he couldn't get his ticket or accommodations refunded so he couldn't be here. 


My brother, who lives in Indiana, had heart surgery two days after my mother passed so he couldn't make it either. He has recovered and is back home.

The funeral was small and private and my mother is resting with my Daddy now.


Almost every evening, my middle son would go out to the beach and take a walk by himself. I guess he thought about his grandmother while he was out there, and just life in general. He lives a very busy lifestyle so he drank in the calm and quiet of the beach when no one was around. These are two of his pictures. 




Our middle son left Sunday evening to fly back to his family, and on Monday, Hubby returned to work after his two weeks of vacation. I had company on Monday afternoon so I haven't really been by myself. I'm not sure it has really hit me yet that my mother is gone because of course I had family around me and I've been so busy. 

Yesterday, Hubby had the day off so we went to Cavendish where we toured Green Gables again. We hadn't been there in about ten years so it was nice to go again. I will share some photos next time I post. I have some photos from my youngest son's trip to Portugal as well which will be in another post. 

When my children were growing up, I used to tell them to live this day as though it was their last. Hopefully, by instilling that kind of attitude in them, it would help make them kinder and to do their best to make the world around them a better place just by being here. 

The death of a loved one makes you so much more aware of your own mortality; to make the best of the time you have been given. Till next time, God bless you, and be sure to live your best life right now!

Live in such a way that the world will be glad you did. ~ Mark Lucado


Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

26 comments :

  1. Dear Sandi, My heartfelt sympathy for the loss of you mother. She lived a full life and blessed her children and grandchildren. Embrace your memories as you think of her and the legacy she left behind.
    Jocelyn

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  2. Sandi, I know you will miss your Mom as you remember the past, and I am sending you hugs and prayers.

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  3. Sandi, I'm so sorry for your loss. To be "orphaned" even as an adult is quite a momentous thing, affecting us in some rather surprising ways. So glad you've been surrounded by family. Your son's photos are outstanding, breathtaking, in fact.

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  4. Please accept my sympathy for the loss of your mother. <3

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  5. I am so sorry to hear of this great loss! May God bless all of you and comfort you. The pictures your son took of the ocean is so peaceful and beautiful. I hope you are all doing okay. Thank you for such important advice of living each day as our best, as if it were our last. So good! God bless you!

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  6. I am so sorry for your loss, Sandi. What a beautiful photo of your mother on her 80th birthday! And as Jean mentioned above, when one comes to the realization that one is now an orphan, that is indeed a momentous thing and may affect us more than we expect.

    Those photos your son took are absolutely gorgeous and I am glad he can take that tranquility back to his busy life in the form of pictures.

    How nice that you and your hubby could revisit Green Gables. I think that was the perfect thing for you to do on his day off. There is so much healing to be found being out in the beauty of God's Creation.

    And yes ... wonderful advice about living our best every day and making the most of the time God gives us on this earth. Thanks for sharing that!

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  7. Hugs and prayers for you as you adjust to life without your mother. My mom is 89 and I am very aware of the fragility of time. We do need to live life to the fullest.

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  8. My condolences to you and your family! It's tough to lose a loved one! Your son is an awesome photographer!! I absolutely love his photos! Thank you. May you have a peaceful weekend!

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  9. I'm very sorry for the loss of your beloved mother. Thinking of you and your family during this difficult time.

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  10. Dear Sandi,
    I am very sorry about your Mother's passing. The sweet memories are indeed your treasures. And her picture is lovely.
    Blessings, Linda

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  11. I was so sorry to read about your mother's recent passing. Sending blessings of God's Light and Love.

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  12. My deepest condolences over your mother's passing. I Love my mother in late January of this year, very unexpectedly. I am still trying to come to terms with it. I am not sure I ever will. Losing your mother is so hard. We have been with her and in her and surrounded by her from the moment of our conception, and have a deeply intimate relationship with her. Learning to cope with this new distance separating us is hard. My mind knows that one day I will be with her again, and my heart knows this also, but I miss her so very much. I think I always will. I am sure it is the same for you. ((((hugs))))

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  13. Dear Sandi ~ love, hugs and prayers for you and your family at this time for the great loss of your dear mother. ~ FlowerLady

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  14. Dear Sandi...May the love your Mother shared with you, remain with you, always. She will be there forever in your heart, in your laughter, and in all the precious memories you made. Enjoy your visit to Anne's house. Ohhhhhh, that is one trip I would LOVE to have! Warmly, Susan

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  15. I am so very sorry to hear about your mom, Sandi. However, What a blessing to have your dear mother visited by her grandsons before she passed on to be with your daddy, my friend. I think that she was waiting for your middle son to come home. As you know, my own dear mother passed away last October, and today is the 6th Anniversary of my beloved husband's passing. You left us with the best advice of living each day as if it were our last. I'm sending you warm hugs across the miles, Sandi. God bless you and your family.....

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  16. So sorry for the loss of your Mother, Sandi, such lovely thoughts you have shared, May the peace of God, fill your heart as you grieve for your loss!
    Blessings,
    Sue

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  17. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your dear mother Sandi. She looks like she was a lovely woman. God be with you and comfort you, my friend. xo Deborah

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  18. Sandi,
    I am so very sorry to hear of the passing of your sweet Mother. Sending prayers to you and your family...We also experienced a tragic loss...even though my nephew fought a very hard fight against colon cancer, it was a battle that he could not win. He passed at home under the care of Hospice with his wife and 3 daughters by his side...I understand how a death in the family makes you stop and take a look at your own life. I am now officially retired....
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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  19. Oh dear Sandi, I am just now reading this, and my heart goes out to you as you come to the realization that your sweet mother is truly gone from this world...I know that feeling...My mother has been gone for 13 years, and I still wish I could pick up the phone and call her on a Saturday morning just to chat. That was our routine each week when I lived farther away from her and Daddy. It was our special time and I looked forward to it so much. She is always in my heart, but I know she is resting peacefully in heaven with my Daddy, my son Matthew, and of course Jesus and all of her other family members she had missed so much. I know you will miss her so often, but one thing I have learned is that heaven really isn't that far away. I often just feel like I could reach out and touch those dear ones. I pray that God will comfort you with pleasant memories and happy thoughts of better times. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

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  20. Dear Sandi,
    I'm so sorry to read about your mother's passing. I'm glad your son was staying with you at the time. I know you will miss her very much, and pray for God's loving arms of comfort to hold you with His love.

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  21. My deepest sympathies...God bless you and your Family.

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  22. Sandi,
    Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind words about my nephew's passing and thanks for commenting on my resignation and retirement....I am so glad that I am now totally "Done" with that place. I will miss certain co workers but 41 years was definitely enough for me!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  23. So sorry for your loss , our sympathies to you and your family . I miss my mum dad and sister to and still will never really get used to not being able to chat with them or spend time with them but I have many lovely memories and photos and they will always be in my heart as will your mum in yours.

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  24. I realized you lost your precious mom the same day we lost our precious Alastor Avery. I hope they are getting to know each other in heaven. HIs little smile would light up any room. MY thoughts and prayers will be with you and yours. I am very grateful you were able to visit before her passing. HUGS and LOVE

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  25. I'm so sorry for your loss Sandi. Your Mom was a beautiful lady.. I lost my Mom in 1992 at the age of 82. I think of her often and all the things I've learnt from her. It's nice that your middle son could spend some time home with you. His photos of the beach are beautiful. It's a good place to reflect. Take care and God Bless.

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  26. Sandi, I'm so sorry for the loss of your mother! What a beautiful lady she was! Thankful that you did have family around during that time, and I loved the pictures your son took of the beach, they are gorgeous! Prayers for you during this time! Blessings, hugs and prayers!

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I am delighted to have you visit me and I read every comment. Please forgive me for not being able to visit you all as there are so many of you lovely bloggy friends now. I will visit as much as possible. I wish you a day filled with JOY!

Also, due to the amount of spam I've been getting, I have had to set Comment Moderation. ~ Sandi

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