Looking Ahead

Mister is due to arrive back here to New Delhi this week.  He is returning after being gone for a total of 17 days.  He has been gone longer and our family has all been displaced longer but those 17 days had returned him to his parent's home, returned him to road trips with his brothers, returned him to the house he grew up in and those days put their family unit of five back together again for his dear mother and loving father.  It was a beautiful thing that he was there for and with the family.  His dad peacefully slipped away into his bright horizon on the evening of March 14, 2012.  His loving sons and faithful wife of 50 years stood by him and gave him their blessing to move ahead.  I am so thankful my cherished husband was there for this event.  This man taught him how to be a father, exemplified how to be a loving husband, and showed him how to live his faith.
He was a wonderful man and all of us will miss him as we move through the years ahead.  January 20, 2012 marked their 50th wedding anniversary.  February 2 will have a slight void when celebrating birthdays. Father's Day at our house may produce some tears as well as Mother's Day since that was usually fishing opener weekend.  But we are sad for us and the changing of scenery we have been accustomed to. 
Decorating the Christmas tree will forever remind me of him.  In his family he would load the tree with lights, allow them to sit for a while and then decorate the tree.  He taught me to stand back and look real hard, sometimes even squint your eyes so I could see the bright spots and if there were any dull spots that needed more lights we could adjust things.  As we move ahead together as a family we will laugh and share the bright spots.  We will also look out for the dull spots and then adjust as needed.
In memory of Grandpa Mister
February 2, 1942-March 14, 2012

The REST of the Story

In India and all around the world we were all deep in thought and prayer as we learned the details of Grandma and Grandpa's journey from Florida to Mississippi then Mississippi to home, where the heart is, and the comfy chair by the window. The family made the journey together. They arrived safely to home in the mid-west with all the boys gathered around their Dad, as support for their Mom and are visiting with friends and family who are stopping by. The boys had managed to get Dad to his chair where he has been asking to be since he left Florida. Now the rest of journey Dad will have to go it himself. The boys are there for Mom and for each other as well as a reassuring support for their Dad. We are here in India sending all our prayers and love as other family members are doing from their parts of the world. We had wanted to FaceTime with Grandpa once he arrived to his home but for one reason or another it just didn't work out. Instead kid one and middle recorded Ode to Joy for Grandpa. It is the song Grandpa often requested when the kids would practice while visitng at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Music and conversations are still happening in the room where Dad in-law rests but he is now unresponsive. He has been moved out of the chair by the window and into the hospital bed that was delivered by hospice to make it much more comfortable for the caregivers who are lovingly tending to his needs. Dad in-law is peacefully resting and that is important. We all know that if God is calling for him to come home then we will continue on the road we have and someday in our far off future we will see him again when we are done with our adventure we call life. 

We love you Grandpa!

M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i

When we lived in the US we took many road trips over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go.  Kid middle and three grew up in the back seat of the van traveling when they were weeks to months old riding peacefully for the six to nine hours it took to drive from our house to the grandparents.  We traveled over the Mississippi river to get from here to there and the kids learned at a young age how to spell Mississippi and said it again and again as we drove over the bridge. 
M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i
Fittingly then as we are here in India and we received the message that Grandpa is not well and wants to leave Florida where he and Grandma go for the winter to head back for Grandmother’s house they go.  His pulmonary fibrosis is getting the best of him lately and it has become increasingly difficult for him to breath.  His wishes are to go home to the mid-west and get some rest.  The three sons are doing their best to coordinate what they can and take as much stress off of Mom as possible.  Uncle one and Uncle three both flew to Florida to help with the journey while Mister has made arrangements to fly to the home state airport early next week.  One of the hazards of living overseas is we cannot all pile into the van and drive over the river and through the woods.  It is far too costly for all five of us to pile into an airplane.  So we sit and we pray and we cry and we wait for calls and we try to go about life as normal knowing that Grandpa is not well.  In the two days of travel thus far, Grandpa’s journey has taken him only as far as northern Mississippi.  He has needed to stop for a blood transfusion once and at another hospital he needed some antibiotics because of a high fever.  Still sitting in Mississippi and not even half way to home where Grandpa wants to rest.  As we cross this bridge I find myself mindlessly spelling.
M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i