ACCEPTANCE

I read this this morning and it really struck a cord in me. I thought I would like to share it with you:

God comes to us exactly where we are—
Not where we should have been if we had made all the right choices in life,
Not where we could have been if we had taken every opportunity that God has offered us,
Not where we wish we were if we didn’t have to be in the place where we find ourselves,
Not where we think we are because our minds are out of sync with our hearts,
Not where other people think we are or think we ought to be when they are attending to their own agendas.
God comes to us exactly where we are, right now.

This reflection is from Inner Compass by Margaret Silf.

A GIFT

When I was all caught up in the activities surrounding Mother's illness and death my husband said, "When this is all over I will take you off to the beach." Well, true to his word, on Thursday he told me to pack my bag for a few days' trip. He was taking me to the beach. He had made all the arrangements and we were off! We had reservations at the Lighthouse Inn--a favorite place where they have lots of big white rocking chairs, beautiful flowers, rooms with balconies practically over the water, and several wonderful seafood restaurants within walking distance. We had three lovely days in this special place and the weather was beautiful each day.

We sat in the large white rockers on our third-floor balcony and watched boats come and go, listened to the water lapping on the boat dock nearby, saw the huge pelicans swoop in for a landing on the water below our room, and gazed up at the filmy white clouds in the unbelievably blue sky (wondering just how one might paint such a cloud).

I took pictures of the hibiscus, the waning full moon rising over the water, the glorious sunrise, and a few pictures in a lovely art gallery in town--just for inspiration.

We had a great evening with Son #1 and wife--although grandchildren #1 and #2 had other "pressing activities" that evening. The next day, on the way home we stopped by to see Son #4 and family briefly at a soccer celebration for their last game of the season. I remember those days with our own boys!! Miss Ella Bella and brother were enjoying the activities at the pizza place and we had a great time watching them play.

Many, many thanks to my sweet husband for the brief respite in such a beautiful place!

CATCHING UP

This week has been a week of catch-up activities. We returned from Mother's burial in Amarillo on Monday and then I spent the week doing laundry, buying groceries, cleaning up the house and all those things I had not done the weeks that Mother was sick and after her death. It is amazing how many things I had neglected during those five weeks.

I promised to post some of the wonderful pictures from our family gatherings during the past several weeks.

A Pictorial Tribute to Mother

My Husband and Me with our 4 Wonderful Boys!

Our Crowded House - FUN! -Daughters-in Laws visiting with Sister-in-Law plus Kids!

Cousins Enjoying Each Other - on our back porch

Toys, Toys Everywhere! But the Daughters-in Law were quick to clean up--thanks, girls!!

A Beautiful Fall Day in Amarillo for Mother' Burial

FAMILY TIME

We had Mother's funeral this past weekend and had so many good friends and family members join us for several days. Saturday night we had a Vigil Prayer Service and story telling with friends and relatives telling their favorite Mary C, Mother, Grandmother, Great-Gram stories. Three of my boys made video tapes of the story telling and I watched one last night. It was wonderful!!

Sunday our parish priest celebrated the Mass of Resurrection for Mother and his remarks were wonderful--not to mention that he flew in from a meeting just for her funeral and flew back when the ceremony was over. That was such a considerate thing to do for our family!

All weekend our house was full of people. We had all three children and spouses here. We had all 12 of Mother's grandchildren and spouses here and we had all 12 great grandchildren here, plus cousins and friends. Luckily it was beautiful weather so the children played in our big backyard. One of our sons got small pumpkins and hid them in the wooded part of our backyard and led the little ones on a pumpkin patch hunt. Then his wife helped the children decorate their pumpkins to take home. Other children pulled out all the play dishes and a number of them "cooked up a storm" while some got busy with the sidewalk chalk on our patio. The older ones played football and soccer on the grassy part of the yard while adults either sat and watched or joined in the fun and games.

And, of course, we did what our family does best--we ate and ate and ate--thanks to all the wonderful neighbors and friends who provided several bountiful feasts for us! Pictures will follow later! I promise--when I catch up with a few other things around here.

BREATHE, BREATHE

The pace around here is definitely picking up and I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Family members are on their way from nearby and as far away as Egypt. Our WHOLE immediate family will gather this weekend for a marvelous celebration of Mother's life.

Tomorrow night we will have a Vigil Service (a prayer service our parish priest suggested) and a session of story telling. Guess you might know that I figured out a way to gather stories from this huge family of ours. A couple of our boys will bring video cameras to record the stories for posterity. And I am sure that we will have a zillion photos snapped during the two-three days we spend together. A priest who is a dear friend is doing the Vigil Service.

The funeral is Sunday afternoon. Our priest is in Houston for the weekend, but is very kindly flying in for a couple of hours before returning to his meeting. It has been marvelous how so many people have bent way over backwards to make this celebration a nice one. Even the church secretary worked overtime making the worship aid beautiful for the funeral, using a family photo on the back page and a design that looks like Mother's exquisite needlework on the front.

I am so touched by all the love that has been extended to our family at this time. Thanks to all of you dear people!

MAKING PLANS

My brother and sister and I whizzed through decision-making and planning yesterday after Mother died. We really work well as a team, just as we did when our dad died ten years ago. It is marvelous to have supportive family members at times like this. And it is wonderful to have so much support in making important decisions. The result of our planning is as follows:

The church was not available on Saturday for Mother's funeral, so our plans are to have the Vigil Service at Harrell Funeral Home, 4435 Frontier Trail, Saturday evening from 5 to 7 and the funeral will be held Sunday afternoon at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 5455 Bee Caves Road at 2:00 p.m. Burial will be in Amarillo the next weekend at Llano Cemetery.

Thanks, Anne and Joe, for being here this weekend with me to share Mother's final hours.

MOTHER DIED THIS MORNING

Mother passed away peacefully this morning--about 7:50, Sunday morning, October 11, 2009. My sister, Anne, and my brother, Joe, and I spent a wonderful day with her yesterday. Early on Saturday morning we had a chance to visit with her and she recognized that her kids were there with her. We spent the day visiting and reminiscing with her and among ourselves. Fr. Jim Evans came and anointed her and she then slept peacefully until the end.

We are together today and at peace as we prepare the arrangements. Tentative plans are to have the funeral here in Austin on Saturday, the 18th at St. John Neumann Catholic Church with a later burial in Amarillo, next to Dad. We are waiting to hear from the church to confirm these arrangements so we will keep you updated with further details as we work them out.