"I Wanna Go Home!"

This will be my last "catch-up" post for the evening. Perhaps the writing of this post is why it has taken me so long to update...

Per my previous post, we all saw Pawpaw on Friday, Dec. 26th. When Dad and Uncle Bill took him back to the VA nursing home, they told him that his residence there was probably going to become a permanent thing. They were already scheduled to meet with the directors there about permanent residence the following week. Pawpaw seemed to understand - although, he was so confused recently that who knows how long he remembered that or how well it even computed.

On Sunday, Dec. 28th, he was admitted to the hospital with some breathing issues. My dad was not able to make it up to see him that day, but had planned to go on Monday if he was not better. The nurse told Dad on Monday that he was doing better, and they were planning to release him on Tuesday. So, Dad decided to hold off on his visit until the following day when they were scheduled to meet with the nursing home director.

All Monday night, Pawpaw told the nurse, "I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" At 6:44 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 30th, he sat up in bed, breathed his last breath on earth and entered heaven's glory - his eternal Home.

Pawpaw lived a long, fulfilling life; he was 83 when he died. He had been married to Mawmaw for 53 years when she died in Jan. of 2003. He had two sons - my father, Gary, and my uncle, Bill - who are both ministers. He had six grandchildren: me, my sister-Charity, my brother-Sam, and our cousins - Jason, Angela and Melissa. And, he met two of his great-grandchildren: my boys, Nathan and Elijah.

My brother wondered why he had to die this year; why not next year? You see, Sam will marry his sweetheart, Megan, this November, and he will have only one set of grandparents present at the wedding. I remember asking the same question when Mawmaw died. My Nathan, her first great-grandchild, arrived one year later. Yeah, there's a lot they will miss...I am the only grandchild with children; my sister and I are the only two who are married. My youngest cousin is only 13!!! But, I like to think (whether it's true or not, I don't know) that they aren't missing ANYTHING; rather, they have the greatest seat in the house!

We buried Pawpaw on Friday, Jan. 2nd, my 30th birthday. My family asked if that was okay, and I realized...how appropriate for him to be buried on the 30th anniversary of him becoming "Pawpaw." It was hard, but it also seemed right. My dad and uncle performed the ceremony; they'd have it no other way. I did a power point of his life to Chris Tomlin's "Amazing Grace: My Chains are Gone." Indeed, Pawpaw is now free!

The funeral was much harder than I expected. It wasn't so much Pawpaw's death, in and of itself, that bothered me. It was the fact that I no longer had ANY grandparents living on that side. It was like a whole chapter of my life was ending, and I wasn't prepared. Growing up, we spent a lot of time with the Taylors - they kept us when Mom and Dad went on trips and had us over "just because." When my brother was born 7 weeks early, my mom could not get him out of the house for 3 months. That summer, my grandparents took my sister and I to San Marcus on vacation. When Mom was in and out of the hospital before Sam was born, we often stayed with Mawmaw and Pawpaw Taylor. THAT'S the kind of grandparents they were; they were a stability to us, in good times and bad. I just never dreamed they would both be gone so soon from my life.

So, there you have it...the reason this blog has been delayed...I just didn't feel like typing it all out and dealing with it all over again. But, now it's done and I can move on! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I know it was long...

In case you can't tell...we're sitting at a table outside covered with rocks...but they weren't really rocks; they were cookies...heck, that's why I'm blowing on them! Yeah, the family loves this photo; I'll NEVER live it down!

They've got the best seats in the house now.

Clarinel "Mawmaw" Taylor, 1931 - 2003

Joe "Pawpaw" Taylor, 1925 - 2008

He made it to two of his grandchildren's weddings - mine and my sister's.
The only complete 4 Generations picture we ever got: me holding Nathan, Pawpaw, my dad holding Elijah (Jan. 2007)

He was laid to rest with military honors for his time spent as a POW in WWII. Goodbye, Pawpaw...

Day After Christmas

It has been a tradition in our family to spend the day after Christmas with the Taylors. This was a tradition when I was younger and has carried on through the years. Mawmaw used to tell me that Christmas did not occur for her until the day after because that's when all of us were there. *Sigh, I miss that lady!*

Once Mawmaw moved to heaven, we continued the tradition and spent the 26th of December with Pawpaw at his place near Bonham. Our traditional meal was brisket and sometimes ham when Mawmaw was alive, and it later turned into BBQ from a local restaurant once Pawpaw was in charge! LOL

My grandfather's health had been a bit shakey for the past couple of years. He had been in and out of the hospital, had a pacemaker put in, lived with my parents for a greater part of last year, etc. The Sunday before Thanksgiving, it appeared that he was not going to pull through. The family was called in, and we remained at the hospital the entire day. His will to live pulled him through, though, but he wasn't quite the same. He returned to us very weak, frail. He relied on oxygen to breath and a wheelchair to get around. We did not even get to celebrate Thanksgiving with him because he was in the hospital. Around the 1st of December, he was released into a VA nursing home, no longer able to live in his home even with assisted care.

He was able to get out of the nursing home for 3 hours at a time so we kept our family tradition and celebrated Christmas at his house with him on the 26th. We had the traditional BBQ meal and banana pudding for dessert. I don't know that Pawpaw ate much food, but it didn't take long for him to devour that banana pudding. :) He even spilled a bit on his shirt in the dash from the bowl to his mouth.

Those 3 hours were up quite quickly, and it was soon time to take Pawpaw back to the nursing home. It took my dad, my brother and my uncle to load him in the car. I don't know why, but I walked out with them. I was holding Elijah, and when Nathan stuck his head out the door, I told him to come give Pawpaw another hug. I felt that it was going to be the last time we saw him. The boys waved and blew him kisses. And, he returned to the VA facility.

The pictures from this gathering are quite sacred to the family, but here are a few I got to share...

Thanks to my aunt and uncle, Elijah now has this annoying...I mean, wonderful...toy called Elmo Live!

You can see Pawpaw in the back of this picture, behind Nathan.

On our solemn car ride home...I just didn't feel like talking much...God gave us this to behold.

Christmas Photos - only a month late!

Apparently some people actually read my blog...hmmmm, that's good to know because I've been wondering...and those people who do read it have been asking for an update. Geez, once a month isn't good enough?! I jest, I jest!!! Of course it isn't! It's just been quite crazy around here, and you'll find that out soon enough from the updates...

But, I couldn't update without at least including photos and info on Christmas. :)

Christmas Eve: We attended an afternoon candlelight service at my best friend's church in Plano - Grace Community. Since we got out right at dusk, and they are located right next to Deerfield, we decided to take the boys on a tour of lights. They loved it! After our short sight-seeing, or should I see "light-seeing," tour, we headed to Sean's mom's house for Christmas Eve dinner (tradition is soup, baked potato this year) and gift exchange with his grandparents and aunts. We headed home around 9 to get cookies made for Santa and get two very excited little boys in bed. For some reason, I didn't get pictures at Sean's mom's house...I kept forgetting once I started helping the boys open! But, here are a few other shots from the day...

These are Boo-Boo Kits that the boys and I made as gifts.

What was inside of the Boo-Boo Kit!

Look what Santa left Elijah!

Look what Santa left Nathan!

Christmas Day: Our morning started before sun-up on Christmas Day. Ugh! Be forewarned...apparently, I am not very good with the camera at that hour b/c I didn't get the best shots AND my point and shoot was on a wonky setting so some of those shots are BW! Anyways, we got up between 6 and 7, I believe, to open gifts as a family. Then, we went to Sean's mom's for Christmas breakfast and to exchange gifts with her, Sean's sis and brother-in-law, etc. From there, we went to my grandparents' house in Burleson for lunch. (The boys and I slept on the 1 hour trip there.) We stayed until dark to see my grandfather's Christmas lights, which he is very proud of! That evening, we went to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas with my parents and siblings. It was a very busy day, but filled with lots of love and family...we wouldn't have it any other way!

Ever seen Sean in glasses?

The boys with Daddy and Uncle Andrew

It was a long day for all of us!

Proof that I WAS there, even though it's a HORRIBLE shot! Thanks, Babe!