Mom Entered Heaven 9 Years Ago !!!

March 31

I can not believe that my Mom has been in Heaven for 9 years today! Really - where does the time go? There isn't a day I don't think of her and think to call her like I used to every night.

March 8 of this month was Bill's home going! That's incredible, too. He was here, today, in the family room. Well, not literally. Jess was watching one of our home videos and there he was. Some times those videos are hard to watch, sometimes they are comforting.

As I think over what is happening in the world and all the prayer needs, I feel overwhelmed to remember them all. I do keep a prayer journal, but lately the things we need to pray for have become so extreme. I am SO glad that our Heavenly Father doesn't get overwhelmed. Not at all. He tells us in His Word to bring all our cares to Him. He can be trusted to make a way. That is what I do. I hope you do, too.

A Great Church Service

March 29

I was determined to get up "early" so that I'd be able to watch the 10:00 service at Woodside Troy. I did, but then Jessie wanted eggs and bacon for breakfast. Say what? I haven't cooked her eggs in years (her choice) and bacon would take forever. Thankfully, I found sausage in the freezer and I did make her scrambled eggs.

If you don't have a church family and want to watch a great service, go to Facebook and find Woodside Bible Church/Troy for their services on-line. It was very uplifting.

While I watched the sermon, Jessie sang along with praise songs by Don Moen. When the service was over and Pastor Chris prayed, Jess began to cry. I went to her and we listened to his prayer together. She continued to cry with her arm tightly around my neck. I can't explain the spiritual sense Jessie gets. I just know that she knows that Jesus is the answer. To everything.

I remember years ago when both Moms and Bill were still alive and we sat in church together, all 6 of us. Being a Stephen Minister/Leader, I would sometimes go forward to pray with those at the altar. Jessie would go, too, and lay her hand on their shoulder. Many times that person would look up to see who was praying for them because of a different sense they felt. It was a very emotional, spiritual time.

One of the songs Jessie listened and sang along with was "I Will Sing". Here's the chorus:

I will sing, yes, I will praise, even in my darkest hour

Through the sorrow and the pain

I will sing, I will praise, lift my hands to honor You

Because Your Word is true, I will sing ...

Look up the rest of the words. They are so appropriate for today. I believe that praising God and worshiping Him is critical for every day life. No matter if we're in a pandemic or not. He deserves our highest Praises.   

Lunch Out !!!

March 28

Jess and I went out today on a necessary drive. We drove thru Romeo Wendy's and ordered our lunch. We even got to talk to James, the owner. We ate in a parking lot. Then we went to Walgreen's drive thru for prescriptions and I got gas in my van. On the way home Jessie pointed out all the places that were closed. She kept pointing and saying "Closed!"  "Closed!"  "Closed!" I hope she gets it this time.

I must say that Jessie has been a lot happier this afternoon. She's been laughing quite a bit!

I spent quite a bit of time at my computer today going through my "Do Today" and "Jobs to be Done" boxes. I found this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:

If life were predictable, 

it would cease to be life,

and be without flavor.

I think we would all agree that we could do without so much flavor right now.

Bra On !!!

March 27

When Jessie got dressed this morning the first thing she said was: "Bra on! Lunch OUT!" Yup, that's just what I heard all day long until I assured her we would go out tomorrow to Wendy's drive thru for lunch.  She's getting cabin fever, that's for sure!

Jon rented the new Jumanji movie tonight and we laughed hysterically for 2 hours. He even had to stop it a few times for us to catch our breath. It was a good movie, although they could have cut out all the very bad language in it and it would have just been as good.

Lunch Out ... People Better !!!

March 26

That's the statement I woke to this morning. Jessie is so determined that she gets to go out to breakfast or lunch each day. I've finally had to tell her that not only do people get sick from this virus, but that some people even die. So, for our meal-time blessings, Jess had added that "people get better soon!"  To help ME get through the day, I told her we'd go to Wendy's drive thru for lunch soon. She said McDonald's. OK, whatever. 

Nothing else noteworthy from today. I did a lot of paperwork plus washed clothes.

Jon's Garden Bounty

March 25

I guess Jess didn't get it when I showed her the places yesterday that were closed. She's been hollering all day about going out to lunch tomorrow or breakfast on Friday, which is her usual routine.  It's so difficult for those who thrive on routine.  And, that goes for me, too. I do like routine and I need deadlines to get me busy on projects. With my calendar almost empty, I keep saying that I'll do it tomorrow. I need to stop that.  I did pay 2 on-line bills today. That's a start. One was due today, though! 

For the first time ever, I made ham and bean soup for dinner. We are still eating the fruits of Jon's garden from last fall. In the soup were his black beans, kidney beans and white beans; carrots and onions. The ham bone was from Christmas and the celery was from the store. I must say, I had 2 bowls, Jon had 1 (he's not a soup lover) and Jess ate the ham. We had corn muffins to go with the soup.

 
 Jon planted every bearing strawberries and we had 3 harvests. They were SO good.

The potato harvest was awesome. We're still eating them.

The back yard looked so nice with Jon's

garden almost ready to be harvested.

Mail Call

Tuesday, March 24

I forgot to post yesterday! I have to get back in to the routine again of blogging before I shut down my computer.

Jessie had her eye doctor appointment today and we were given GREAT news. The dr. said the cornea looked good and he saw no evidence of a scratch or flap. Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers for a healing of Jessie's eye. We still need to apply the eye cream for a month, as well as continue the month-long antibiotic. I am so grateful that God healed her eye. He is still our Miracle Worker!

On the way to Jessie's appointment today, I pointed out to her all the places that were closed and had no cars in the parking lot. I hoped that it would help her understand that it wasn't just something I was saying. She wanted MOD Pizza but I showed her that it, too, was closed. I said: "I'll just have to make you a BBQ Chicken Pizza". Her response? "OH, NO!"  Thanks, Jess. We drove thru Wendy's for a parking lot lunch instead. 

Jessie received many cards and gifts through the mail. We have a PO Box, so we have to go to the post office to pick up our mail, which we don't do every day. Thank you to everyone who has sent her a get well greeting.

I'm Back !!!

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Well, it's been a long time since I ended my posts … July 17, 2017 to be exact. If you were a follower, you know that I begin in 2010 when my husband, Bill, was diagnosed with cancer, and my Mom was on hospice. Both "dying" at the same time.  It was a way to keep everyone up-to-date on daily happenings. Mom went to Heaven on March 31, 2011, and Bill joined her on March 8, 2012.  I continued the blog, but mostly about my daughter, Jessie. I ended the blog when it became too much for me at the time.

For the past week I've been impressed to begin it again. When the thought didn't come and go, but stayed, I felt it was God telling me to re-open my blog again. I'm not sure why. Maybe to reach out to others who need encouragement. Maybe to take some time away from the depressing news we hear every day. It will be about Jessie and how we are coping with the Coronavirus. I hope I will be able to make you laugh each day, too. Laughter is what will help us each day.

So … here we go with today's entry ...

As some of you know who follow me on Facebook, Jessie scratched her left cornea about 2 weeks ago. We don't know how she did it or when. These days have been worse than when she had her gallbladder out in 2018. We've been to our family optometrist several times, she's called us several times and even came to the house to deliver numbing drops. Then we went last week to Frazer Eye Center to see a specialist. It is also a surgery center, and they tried to give her medication to put her out to place a contact over her cornea. If it doesn't heal, she could lose her eye sight. Needless to say, it didn't work. They gave her enough meds to put me out for a week and she still was wide awake until 11:00 pm that night. The dr. suggested we continue with both eye drops (which she puts in herself with her finger in the corner of her eye) and oral antibiotics. We go back on Tuesday. P.S. The eye patch lasted 10 minutes.

Jess has been confused when we have been out and can't shake hands. It has taken us YEARS to get her to shake hands versus hugging everyone. And, I do mean YEARS. Now, we have to teach her not to touch anyone or elbow bump!