Finish your Book of ME!
Hi guys, it's been a pretty awful week in our house. Hence the lapse in posts. My appologies. I'll get back up to speed soon. One of my friends' lost her mother-in-law this past week. Now I know alot of you would probably be happy to lose yours... but my girlfriend was blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law just like me!
Now this time of year is pretty hard in our house usually(with Mothers Day just been and the anniversaries of their deaths coming up), but this latest development pushed us over the edge into crying territory. (Something I usually try not to do, as it upsets the kids).
Well I guess I need to explain myself a little for those of you who don't know me and haven't a clue what I'm talking about.... My daughter turns three this week and her birthday is always a little sad for us. When she was 5 days old my husbands' wonderful mother died. For us this was a very hard time as she had been so sick for so long and my husband and I had watched her waste away to a shadow of her former self. Her last christmas was particularly hard for us to endure. Watching her in so much pain was bad but the worst was she didn't have the energy to enjoy watching my son (her first grandchild) opening his presents (something she'd looked forward to for so long!... Christmas with grandkids). I was pretty devastated by her loss. She treated me like a member of her family and I can honestly say I loved her dearly.
Then when my daughter was 5 weeks old my mother died. This death was a big shock. With my mother-in-law we had been expecting it for around 7 months. But with my mother I only found out she had breast cancer a week after my mother-in-law died. I was really blown away when she died because only days before, the doctors had been talking to me about nursing homes for her. So it kinda hit me out of left field.
So this time of year is very bittersweet. On the one hand we marvel at how much our little girl has grown. She'll be a big 3 this year. And on the other hand we feel the pain of three years without a grandmother for our children. Now good grandma's are very special people! The contribution they make to a child's life is amazing. And today good grandmothers just got rarer!
My girlfriends' mother-in-law was a fabulous grandmother! She did so many wonderful things with her grandkids. It was heartwarming to hear her grandchildren speak of her at the funeral today! They talked of a woman who went horseridding with them when she was 58 (despite not being on horseback for over 30years) they spoke of an active participant in all their activities, from fishing to camping to soccer ... to a school dance I saw her at where she was dressed as the crocodile hunter! How lucky they were to have had those memores. My daughter has none..... And my son only remembers the hospitals and how they couldn't fix his Grandma or his Nana. (He will remember these things out loud at the least appropriate times so I arrive at important meetings with mascara smears under my eyes mind you!)
As sad as I am for my girlfriend and her loss.... and for her husband who is now without either parent! I must admit that most of my tears today were for the grandchildren.
So cherish your mother-in-law and your mother for the contribution they make to your childrens' lives at least.... and give them a hug from me! And then make sure your "Book of Me" is all done with all the details penned in and decorated with all your best embellishments!
At the funeral today they had all the photo albums there for us to look through and it was truly lovely to see her as a young woman in her wedding dress, a young mother, a grandmother...... I know it was a chore lovingly undertaken by her family... assembling the photos into a couple of albums.....no scrapbooking present though :( But I truly belive it is our duty as scrapbookers to get this in order and all done ready for our kids! Mine is done.... is yours?
Now this time of year is pretty hard in our house usually(with Mothers Day just been and the anniversaries of their deaths coming up), but this latest development pushed us over the edge into crying territory. (Something I usually try not to do, as it upsets the kids).
Well I guess I need to explain myself a little for those of you who don't know me and haven't a clue what I'm talking about.... My daughter turns three this week and her birthday is always a little sad for us. When she was 5 days old my husbands' wonderful mother died. For us this was a very hard time as she had been so sick for so long and my husband and I had watched her waste away to a shadow of her former self. Her last christmas was particularly hard for us to endure. Watching her in so much pain was bad but the worst was she didn't have the energy to enjoy watching my son (her first grandchild) opening his presents (something she'd looked forward to for so long!... Christmas with grandkids). I was pretty devastated by her loss. She treated me like a member of her family and I can honestly say I loved her dearly.
Then when my daughter was 5 weeks old my mother died. This death was a big shock. With my mother-in-law we had been expecting it for around 7 months. But with my mother I only found out she had breast cancer a week after my mother-in-law died. I was really blown away when she died because only days before, the doctors had been talking to me about nursing homes for her. So it kinda hit me out of left field.
So this time of year is very bittersweet. On the one hand we marvel at how much our little girl has grown. She'll be a big 3 this year. And on the other hand we feel the pain of three years without a grandmother for our children. Now good grandma's are very special people! The contribution they make to a child's life is amazing. And today good grandmothers just got rarer!
My girlfriends' mother-in-law was a fabulous grandmother! She did so many wonderful things with her grandkids. It was heartwarming to hear her grandchildren speak of her at the funeral today! They talked of a woman who went horseridding with them when she was 58 (despite not being on horseback for over 30years) they spoke of an active participant in all their activities, from fishing to camping to soccer ... to a school dance I saw her at where she was dressed as the crocodile hunter! How lucky they were to have had those memores. My daughter has none..... And my son only remembers the hospitals and how they couldn't fix his Grandma or his Nana. (He will remember these things out loud at the least appropriate times so I arrive at important meetings with mascara smears under my eyes mind you!)
As sad as I am for my girlfriend and her loss.... and for her husband who is now without either parent! I must admit that most of my tears today were for the grandchildren.
So cherish your mother-in-law and your mother for the contribution they make to your childrens' lives at least.... and give them a hug from me! And then make sure your "Book of Me" is all done with all the details penned in and decorated with all your best embellishments!
At the funeral today they had all the photo albums there for us to look through and it was truly lovely to see her as a young woman in her wedding dress, a young mother, a grandmother...... I know it was a chore lovingly undertaken by her family... assembling the photos into a couple of albums.....no scrapbooking present though :( But I truly belive it is our duty as scrapbookers to get this in order and all done ready for our kids! Mine is done.... is yours?
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