Wednesday, February 29, 2012

An Extra Day

An Extra Day To Live

An Extra Day To Love

An Extra Day To Give

And Extra Day To Rejoice

And Extra Day To Celebrate

And Extra Day To Bless

What are you doing with Your Extra Day?

Sunday, February 26, 2012

The First Piece


So many people whom I have met
During this grief journey
Have expressed their need to have "A Place"

A Place to go
To grieve
To cry
To pray
To talk to their loved one
Many choose the site of an unexpected death
But most choose a cemetery plot or the like

My Mark chose cremation
He was adamant about not spending money
On a cemetery 'place'

The mortuary we chose kindly split Mark's remains
Of which 1/2 of them we took to his mom last July
He has a beautiful resting place in Bridgeport
Where he was born and raised
And where his mom can watch over him

I have not yet decided what to do with the remains I have
Although I have recently felt the need to have "A Place"

Since Mark passed away at home 
And we didn't use a cemetery
I have decided to create a 'memorial garden'
In my back yard

It will become "My Place"
To go
To grieve
To cry
To pray
To talk to my Mark

I do not yet have all the plans made
But I have added the first piece to the garden


Father's Day 1996
My boys made the above pictured garden stone
For my Mark
They were so much younger
14 and 10
But it has been a piece we have kept for all these years

As I cleaned the yard yesterday
It found its new home
And it will be the welcoming piece to what will eventually be
Mark's Memorial Garden
And 'My Place'

Prayerfully Considering How God Will Put It Together,
Cindy

Friday, February 24, 2012

7 months down

A quick update on my
Total Mouth Restoration

7 months down
 17 months to go
Lots of progress
With LOTS more to do

Still Happy About my Decision!!!!!!

Now I have to figure out
How to get rid of those
Annoying red lines on my chin!!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The Littlest Cain

I just had to share
The newest photo of
The Littlest Cain

Missy is 29 weeks along with this beautiful little angel
Due May 10th

This Nana cannot wait
To meet 'her'

'The Rules of Inheritance' A Review



How timely that this book should arrive for review at the end of the first year following my husband's passing.

Claire Bidwell Smith writes this memoir with the honesty I wish we all could live.
Her willingness to share her heart and life following the deaths of her mother and eventually her father, made me root for her as I read.

'The Rules of Inheritance' is not what I imagined it would be.  Claire allows us to enter her life in segments ranging from 14 - 32 years of age.  Each chapter opens a fresh understanding of her journey through grief and life.  I have lost a parent and understand the depths of grief but I have also lost a spouse and could relate so well with Claire as she recalls her struggles and challenges following her losses.

Though there is no clear path to grieving, it seems there are 5 typical 'segments' to grief.  Therefore, Claire has taken those segments and creatively weaved her journey therein.  This is not a chronological account, but a true reflection of the waves of grief that most suffer after a deep loss.

   I could not relate to Claire's choices during those tumultuous years but I could glean from her story the depth of her loss.  After searching in many unfulfilling directions, Claire has taken what were the voids in her life and now uses them to help other's who are walking a similar path.  In that it seems, Claire has found true happiness and balance in her life.

**One note of concern, especially for the younger or more conservative reader, Claire has no hesitation in using a four letter word freely in her writing.  I cringed as I read it each time and it did prohibit me from truly loving the book.

You can join in on the discussion of this book here.

Though I did received a small compensation and a copy of the book, all opinions written above are strictly mine. 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

M. I. A.

Sorry I have been
Missing In Arizona
Away from the blog world

But I have been doing a lot of this
 
Praying and
Seeking God
About the possibilities of
A New Door Opening
In My Life
They say not to make any major changes
Or huge decisions during the first year
After the loss of a spouse

Well, friends
It has been 14 months
And I believe some Changes are on the Horizon

Continuing to Pray
And looking forward, forward, forward!!!


Saturday, February 18, 2012

Just Thinkin'

About
 Happier
Days

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Invited To Share

I have been blessed to meet so many new friends
As I have journeyed this widow's walk

One such friend is Leah
She lost her sweet Chris to suicide
In May 2011

A new widow has so many life changing events to process
But while doing so
This young woman has chosen
To reach out to others who have and are walking
The same difficult road

During this Love week
Leah has invited a few widows to share
Stories about there loved ones
Who now reside in Heaven

I am honored to be one of those few
Please join me today
At Leahs' Place

Thank you Leah
For loving me through it all!


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

On This Day of Love

How could I be sad
On this day of Love
When I was blessed
For more than 30 years
To have lived with
The Love of My Life

Yet today, as with all my days
There is sadness within my heart
A part that will always long for his touch
The way he looked into my eyes
That quirky smile that told me
He loved me even when I was silly
To hear his voice
To hold him just once more

But I also rejoice in the memories
I hold dear
The blessings of a long marriage
And the Legacy of Love
He left behind

Mark,
I will never stop loving you
Never stop missing you
Never stop anxiously waiting
To see you again

Rest well my love
For you are in the presence of our King

Happy Love Day To All
Cindy

Sunday, February 12, 2012

400

Heellllllloooooooooo

Is Anybody There

It has been a while since I have blogged

I really didn't mean to take a break

But Pneumonia just kicked my ... well, you know

I had hoped to do a fun 400th post

But I just haven't been in the bloggy mood

Tired as I've ever been

A little sad

I had all the kiddos and grands here today

For a bit of a Valentine get together

WOW...Did I miss My Mark

I've held back tears all day

I talked to his mom tonight

That is always hard

I think we both attempt to avoid his name

In fear that the tears won't stop

Anyway,

This is my 400th Post

I can't believe it!

I pray the next 400 bring with them

More Joy Filled Moments to Share

And Many More Bloggy Friends

To Get To Know

Here are two shots I took today

Totally unedited

 This is my K~Bug
This is my K~Bel

Our next little K~

Will be joining us in about 8-10 weeks

Oh, I just can't wait to share her with you

Considering 400 posts with Joy!!
Cindy

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Being Featured!

Today I am honored to have one of my posts

Featured at

Widow's Christian Place

This is a site dedicated to helping

Widow's walk the Widow Road

With confidence while journeying through grief

Thank You Ferree

For featuring my post

To check it out and encourage Ferree

Just click

Here

Monday, February 6, 2012

Pneumonia

After spending 60 hours in bed
I got up this morning, showered and readied myself for work
Once there I had the PNP and DO check my lungs
Yep...
I'm back home and in bed
It seems I have a case of pneumonia
 I am faithfully taking my breathing treatments
And antibiotics
I've had a couple crackers
And a few sips of 7up
But mostly I've just slept and rested

These are the days I REALLY
Miss My Mark!!!

Sure hope I'm feeling better tomorrow
I had a full calendar at work today
Several meetings to reschedule
Looking forward to
Finding Joy In The Morning!!
Happy Monday All~~~

Friday, February 3, 2012

Lesson From Nana's Little Helper

Last week was gorgeous
So I took my gorgeous little K~Bel outside to do a bit of yard work
She is such a little helper
 She wanted to do Everything I did
But with a twist
If I pulled weeds out of the rock
She would throw them back in
If I swept the weeds into a pile
She swept them into a scatter
 But she thought she was helping her Nana
It was actually a delight to watch her
I smiled and laughed so much
This week I was praying
Asking the Lord to 'help' in my circumstances
Reminded during prayer of these photos
The Lord spoke to my heart

I wonder how often God 'works' for my good
And my 'help' only causes a mess

Let me trust you Lord
Trust that You are working for my good
And though you want me near
You don't Always need my kind of help

Thank you Lord
For speaking to my Heart