Long lost blog!

I haven't blogged in a very long time. After my last post, a whirlwind of family tragedies struck our lives and I just couldn't seem to bring myself to update my blog. On the day that I last posted, our family cat of 16 years passed away. Baby Kitty was mine before my husband was mine! He thought that he was human and "talked" to me often. He actually had different sounding meows in response to questions! He loved to sleep with his head on the pillow and under the covers. Once we had children, he took a LONG time to warm up the them but during the last couple of years of his life, he found a place in his heart for them! They still pray for Baby Kitty during our evening prayers!

Two weeks later, my first cousin, Trey, died in a tragic motorbike accident. He was the first young person to die in my family! He was only 32 and lead a wonderful and Godly life. He left behind a beautiful wife and two young children. He is greatly missed. He had a wonderful and infectious smile.

About a month later, on May 5, 2008, my mother in law (Bonnie) passed away. She was a part of our daily lives and up until a few weeks before her death was our babysitter too! She and Joel watched the kids several afternoons a week while I worked. We knew she was ill but were not prepared for her massive heart attack. She had been admitted to the hospital to have test run and coded during the night. She hung on long enough for her brother and sister to travel from NY and SC to say their goodbyes.


The months after her passing were very hard, especially for Leigh. I spent a lot of my energy just trying to take care of everyone and praying for the pain of grieving to pass quickly. I loved her very much. It was truly one of the hardest times our family has endured. I feel blessed that she trusted me to be her medical power of attorney and that if needed, I would (and was able to) make the right (and very hard) decisions. I thank God for allowing me to be there with her when she left this world for a better place!

Then in August, Leigh maternal grandmother passed away. That's right, Bonnie's mom died. I really thought it wasn't going to stop! I prayed for God's wisdom and guidance in helping me to explain to the kids (again) in a way that wasn't scary to them. I have to admit, that it broke my heart when Layton questioned me all about how hearts work and why they stop working right. He was really worried that Leigh or I would have a heart attact and die. It's tricky to reassure a child that his parents probably won't die of a heart attack. I wanted to tell him that it would never happen, believe me! Thankfully, my sister (who has worked in hospice and has provided bereavement counseling) gave me information which helped tremedously.

Time has passed, we are healing and definitely doing much better! Life has been very busy and hectic but in a good way. God is so good and merciful! I work now at Valdosta State University as a clinical supervisor and teach undergraduate students in the Communication Disorders and Sciences Department (Speech language pathology). Leigh is doing well with his job! Chloe is dancing and singing her way through life! That girl can remember the words to a song after hearing it one time! (Quick story... She heard the words to "Hey Mickey" one afternoon on the radio in the car and a few weeks later was singing it word for word in the bathtub!). Layton is doing great in kindergarten and is playing baseball this spring! They both just recently celebrated birthdays!

I will post more and pics next time and I PROMISE that it won't be so long before I post again! There... I finally blogged about all of it. I really was avoiding it! Now my blog updates can be fun again!!!!

So... on this Easter Sunday- I wish you a wonderful Easter filled with God's promises and His love! Amy