July 6th was a tough day. It's my mom's birthday, and we were supposed to celebrate her birthday in some way. Instead, early in the morning I got a call from mom saying that she was headed to the hospital with her siblings because Grandma Nancy had fallen out of her bed overnight. Sure, I was a bit worried, but not at all prepared for the news that would unravel throughout the day.
Grandma had test after test run and each phone call got worse than the one before. First we were told that Grandma had suffered a stroke. Then, it was a series of strokes. Then, we were told that she had suffered a heart attack on top of the strokes. As if all of that wasn't enough to sort out, we got a call from my mom late in the afternoon saying that they had found cancer. After a few more tests the Dr's confirmed that Grandma's cancer was lung cancer and had already spread to her lymph nodes, her spine, and throughout the body. It's stage 4.
This terrible day happened exactly 1 week before my cousin Daniel's wedding. Our family spent all of last week spending as much time at the hospital as possible and trying to help our Aunt (Daniel's mom) with any wedding details.
As if all of this wasn't already hard, Caleb was gone on a trip with his volleyball team. Being a single parent last week kept me busy and distracted, which in a way was nice, but I also felt like I didn't really get to grieve and have a good cry until Caleb came home.
Last week was definitely an emotional rollercoaster. We were heartbroken and grief stricken over Grandma's news, but were also excited for Daniel and Olivia's wedding.
My sister Jenn posted this verse as her fb status right before the wedding;
A time to be born and a time to die...
A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance." Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 4
It was ironic that we were celebrating, crying, laughing, grieving and dancing all at the same time. The wedding was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and I hope to post more about it soon. At the same time, it was painfully obvious that Grandma was missing. :(
Now that the wedding is over we are back to every day life. We don't know how long we have with Grandma, but I hope to make as many beautiful memories and spend as much time with her as I can. We could use your prayers.
Grandma Nancy and me on my wedding day. July 2005
3 comments:
Great post Chris. You said it better than me. It definitely was a week of grieving and celebrating all at once.
Your title says it all!
I'm so sorry for what your family is going through. I'm glad you were able to celebrate in the midst of it all. Looked like a beautiful wedding.
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