The rest of August 2008

8/23 – Because Lori got married in Florida, we had a reception at Germania Maennechor 3 weeks later. She wore her gown and the guys rented tuxes again. Lori, her friend Brandy, Mom and I set up that morning. We all made the food. There was a nice crowd and good music. Everyone had a great time. On top of all of that, the one thing that no one expected was Dad walking up to Bobby and shaking his hand and saying “welcome to the family”! Mom and Lori both started to cry. We took pictures after that and it’s been such a blessing. He and Dad have so much in common and get along great!

8/25 – Grandma Ashby had been sick for a while and in a nursing home. Mom went there every day and took care of her, made cookies for the entire home and always put Grandma to bed at night. On this night, Grandma asked her to stay just a little bit longer. So, Mom stayed about 30 more minutes and made sure she was asleep. I called Mom about 9pm to check on Grandma and make sure Mom got home ok (as I always did). Just before 10pm, Dad called and said they were on their way to the nursing home. They had called and told Mom to get there asap and that Grandma wasn’t doing good. He called back just about 15 minutes later and he was crying. He said they flew there but by the time they arrived, she had passed away. From the time they noticed she was in trouble to the time she passed away, it was 8 minutes. Needless to say, Mom was devastated. She had just been with her. But, she also was so glad that she was just there and that she had stayed just a little bit longer. Lori and I met up and headed over there about 10:30 or so. We stayed with Mom and everyone else until about midnight just looking over Grandma. It was hard to be there because Mom was so upset yet all her brothers and sisters were there pushing her back so they could be in the front line…even though they NEVER visited her at the nursing home. It’s hard to watch. Mom stayed until everyone was gone and the funeral home came to get Grandma. She wasn’t going to leave her alone…

8/26 – The night Grandma died, I sent Jaci an email telling her. Her response was “once I get this and that done, I can take off the rest of the week”. Well, since I only worked 3 days a week, that really wasn’t very helpful. I wasn’t going to ask Mom to watch the kids so Lori stayed home and watched them so I could go to work. I cried most of the day and this is when I realized that our friendship was truly over and that I couldn’t stay at Escalade much longer. I will never forgive her.

8/29 – A happy day and a sad day. Grandma’s funeral was on Jack’s 6th birthday. I took him to school that morning with snacks and he was excited. Jeff and I then picked him up a little early and brought him here for Jan to watch them during the funeral. Grandma’s funeral was so hard. It was sad because she was my Grandma but it was overwhelming to watch Mom go through everything. Mom stood back always making sure everyone had what they needed. As people were being seated, I noticed Mom, Dad and Rosie were in the 3rd row and I got so upset. Why in the world would all her brothers and their spouses get to sit up front when she took care of her every single day? It was Aunt Sandy’s idea that they sit in birth order…so convenient for them. I walked up there and told Mom to move up but she said it didn’t matter and that Grandma knew who was with her until the end. Uncle Gary preached during the funeral but only 1 other child spoke…Mom. It was the most moving thing I’ve witnessed. Mom was so strong and spoke so well. She had said that she really wanted to do this and make it through. There’s no way I could’ve done it for her. She spoke of things she remembered, spoke of forgiveness of her Mom by her siblings and thanked Rosie for helping, the nurses for being there and finally Dad for sticking through it with her. Lori and I were sobbing by this point. She broke my heart but also made me so proud. My Mom is so special and I love her so much. After the funeral, we went to my Uncle Donnie’s church where the Johnston’s had provided the food. Needless to say, Mom didn’t forget a thing and brought Jack gifts. It was a hard day.

8/30 – We were supposed to go camping over Labor Day weekend but didn’t feel like it with all that was going on. So, Jeff and I took our 3 kids plus Tyler and Kaelyn to Nashville for the night. We went to the Science Museum and the zoo. T&K had a GREAT time and we all enjoyed ourselves!!