We saw God today!

Sometimes the journey is sad. This week has been one of those times for us. This past Tuesday my cousin Perry had a massive heart attack and died. It was such a shock to us all. He was 52, only 7 yrs younger than my mom. My aunt and uncle have been so strong even through the tears and total uncertainty. My mom is just amazing! She has been there for my aunt every step of the way! She is my hero. Yesterday was the viewing and we met so many people who gave us story after story of how Perry impacted their life. It was truly amazing! While we were at the viewing we saw a gentleman who looked so much like great grandpa. Jeff's grandfather had cerebral palsy, he passed away about 2 yrs ago. The boys and I were talking about how much he reminded us of Great Grandpa. His name is Bama Bob ~ can you tell what team he cheers for??? :) I did not have the pleasure of meeting him at the viewing but couldn't help but smile at the sweet memories that flooded my mind. Today we had the memorial service for Perry. It was a bit chaotic in getting there, I had my own little break down this morning. May I just say... I have an AMAZING husband. When I was mad at him for absolutely nothing, he let me cry, ironed the boys clothes, straightened up, most of all he held me. When we did arrive, mom, cindy and I rehearsed our song and that caused us to be a wee bit late. The family had already been seated and we had no clue where to sit or when we were singing.... We attempted in a respectful way to find out what in the world we were doing. Thankfully Jeff and Jacob were able to get in their position to be a pallbearer, and we were immediately called on to sing. Even though Cindy has a cold she did a marvelous job. I was super blessed to sing with them again. The service was beautiful! After the service Bama Bob came up and gave me a hug and told me how much he enjoyed the song that I sang (In the Garden). He was JUST like grandpa! We did not get to have a memorial service for Grandpa and I find myself still thinking he is here on this earth with us. Bama Bob looked like Grandpa, he had the same glasses, the same voice, the same hands, the same hug... the resemblance was amazing. He walked away and I looked at Jeff and saw the same look in his eyes. I did shed quite a few tears at that moment. I was so grateful for that little piece of heaven... but it didn't end there. When we were leaving we ran in to him again and with slurred speech he told me that he attempted to write poetry. Jeff and I went to his car and he pulled out 2 poems he wanted us to read. They were beautiful and well written. He gave these to us to have. Again, I remembered how Grandpa did the same thing, he gave me a special piece of paper that had time and date written on it when he said "God, whatever you want". It was such a special time right in the middle of the grieving and the pain of losing Perry God chose to encourage our hearts.

This afternoon I felt as though I could not go on any further but I really wanted to go with the family to my cousin's basketball game. I'm so glad we did go. It was just the right ending to today. My mom, aunt and uncle, cousin and his wife were all there. Even though I wanted the world to just stop for a minute... it didn't... life just keeps on going. Soak in every moment, don't waste it, treasure those around you and tell them so!!!!!!