April Is the Cruelest Month

April 2008 is moving quickly in its bid to become "most memorable month of the past 5 years." I posted about my birthday frustrations, and I posted about the Mighty Jayhawks' victory. The rollercoaster ride continues: on Thursday of this past week my grandmother on my mother's side passed away. Grandma had been ill for a while, including a steady decline into Alzheimer's that was really difficult for my mother and aunt, her surviving two children. While I know she is happier now, the loss of a loved one is never easy. I was able to fly to Utah on Saturday and be with a lot of the family at the viewing and funeral. It was a good trip, and I felt (and still feel) really good about going.

As part of the service I had a chance to be a pallbearer. I'd never done that before, and even though we only walked the casket 30 feet, it still felt important--a final way to serve Grandma. I was thankful for the opportunity. In addition, even for such a sad occasion it was wonderful to see cousins and family members who I haven't seen in ages. One of the thing's I've missed being so far away from everyone here in Georgia are those family connections, and it was good to reaffirm those things. Family is still family, even years later. David is still silly and quirky, Shauna and Christy are still thoughtful and gentle, Aunt Sandy Jo is still loud and doing whatever she feels like. I love it! I miss them all and hope the same amount of time doesn't pass before i see them again.

The trip also gave me a chance to meet one of my newest nephews, Zach (or is it Zack? I'm not sure), and visit with siblings whom I haven't seen in a year and a half. All around, it was a good trip, and it reminded me again to prioritize and value what is most important in my life. I think that's what Grandma tried to do too. I have a lot more thoughts about this, but perhaps they would be best expressed privately, rather than in this public forum. So I'll post pictures of the fam in the near future, but for now, I've got to go to bed so I can be prepared to go back to school tomorrow!