The kids...

So I took the kids to see her for the first time since she got out of the hospital. In a little over two weeks, there has been a shocking change. I guess I didn't see how BIG a change until I saw her through their eyes....

Mom. She can't close her mouth. And was she drooling?
Mom. She doesn't finish her sentences.
Mom. Why won't she walk?
Mom. She's not eating very much.

The unspoken statement was practically shouting in the silence... How long does she have??
And my unspoken answer... We don't know...

It was hard. Hard to hold back my tears in the face of theirs. Hard to explain how the body gives up life in stages. Hard to express words of hope and trust in a time of a certain end.

I explained hospice. I introduced them to the social worker. Their assessment: "She is so ditzy." (Yeah. They are right. She is!) They want to make cookies for the nursing staff.

I knew I had to be there to help them walk this road through the valley of the shadow... but it was incredibly difficult.

Thanks be to God for words and courage when I need it.

Thanks be to God...

Thanks...