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