♥ the sad place...

To me, the sad place, only exists because of the opposite...the joyful, happy times that we can compare it to.

Hannah and Olivia with their great grandparents in December 2004.  Their great grandpa was a jolly man, always smiling, loved to have the girls on his lap, or snuggle with him when he was bed-ridden.  He passed away in March 2007, when he was 81.  

Yesterday, we went to the cemetery to visit Rob's grandfather's grave.  It was a beautiful sunny day, the breeze making it cool.  We picked purple, pink, white and yellow wildflowers to put in the vase on his grave.  We laid out a blanket and gathered dandelion greens, grass and pinecones.  Rob got out his mandolin and played for about a half hour.  I gave grandma some cherry pie I made that morning.  Then, we talked...

 

Rob's grandma is 82 and living in a nursing home.  She has a picture of herself when she was young and grandpa on the shelf above her bed. I think the nursing home is a sad place, people lose their freedom, they depend on others, but sometimes we need that extra care and cannot do things ourselves any longer. 

My father will be 62 next month.  His father came to visit last month, he is 89 right now.  He seems to be in better health that his son.  We all went out for pizza together, they day after my birthday celebration together.  Dad's life is difficult because of  Parksinson's disease...he has lived such an active life, I remember swimming with him in Lake Dunmore in Vermont, him chopping wood, riding bikes with him to get doughnuts on a Saturday morning, lifting my daughter Hannah up to the ceiling and pretending she was on a roller coaster...

And now, he is forced by this disease to be much less active.  Stiff.  Uncomfortable.  Clumsy.  It's like a bad dream I've had when I'm laying in bed and can look with my eyes around, but cannot move any of my limbs, nor yell to ask anyone to help me move.

Having family and friends who love you, will spend time with you, help one another out...a true gift from God, that's what makes it worth wading through the sad times.  ♥

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