Expecting the Unexpected

Monday evening, at the end of proof-reading my blog post - just about to hit 'publish' - my sister came bounding in the room with, "grandpa's dying....mom needs us....." I jumped and don't think I even turned off the computer. Needless to say, he passed before we got to say our "adios'". It was all too familiar: my family in a hospital room alone with a patriarch who was now deceased. We cried and hugged and cried some more every time my mom sobbed "he's gone; dad died an hour ago...." during a phone call to a sibling. All I could think about was a Mat Kearney song lyric, I guess we're all one phone call from our knees, and I said a quick prayer for the relative on the receiving end of that call. Even though he was 93 years old and just recently experiencing some stomach  pain, it still didn't seem right for him to be gone. It was just too soon; but then again, isn't it always?

Here’s a reflection that I wrote in a class 2 quarters ago that holds true to the events of this week - happy day y’all. Xo


Let’s face it. We’ve all had trials and tribulations to deal with throughout our lives. We’ve all experienced brokenness and hard times one way or another either through relationships that didn’t work out, to deaths of loved ones or finding out that someone ate your lunch when you had your name written on the box in the fridge. I’ve dealt with all of these types of brokenness and although it was damn near impossible to see the “goodness” in my father’s death 2 years ago, I have learned a great deal from that type of pain of a broken heart. Time heals. Love heals. Friends heal. My family heals me. I’ve found that love is way more powerful than words and just being “there” is an amazing gift that one can offer. Broken hearts are not painless. They are uncomfortable, sad, and make you feel vulnerable. The good news is that the pain is temporary. It may take a month or a year or two to overcome, but it is indeed temporary. Yes, the pain does come back now and again through calendar dates, old photographs, old stories, that sweet smell of the sandwich you wanted, but it’s all temporary! Life does and will go on and soon enough you’ll find yourself able to laugh again, to cry (yes, even the “ugly cry” in public), and look at the old pictures and feel grateful that you were able to just get through the pain of saying goodbye, but feel even more grateful to know that you were loved, wholeheartedly loved by a person that will always be in your life, even after their death.

So yes, we’ll still have some sad times, our hearts will be broken, our lunches will get stolen, but we will be able to get up and move on. All it takes is some family time, laughs with great friends, maybe even some time with yummy frozen yogurt, and our hearts will be whole once more.