Where have I been, what have I been doing you ask? Here's a glimpse.....It was right around February 14Th, when my phone rang and it was my Grandma. She said to me, "Kris, I'm getting married." Wait, what? Don't get me wrong, I loved the man she had been seeing. His name was Stan and he made her laugh. It was so nice to see her happy again.
It had been almost 10 years since my grandpa died, it was time that she "got out there". She said she wanted me to help her plan and cater her wedding. Something small she said, nothing fancy. Well, you know me I don't do ANYTHING small or SIMPLE. We quickly started making plans, doing up the invitations, etc.....then it all came to a crashing STOP.
The evening of April 1st, I got a phone call from Stan. He said he was at the emergency room with my grandma and that they thought she might be having a stroke. He said not to worry about coming up that he would call me as soon as he had more info. Well, later that night we found out that she was being moved to a different hospital and that they were running more "tests." It seemed like days but was actually hours when the phone rang and it was my aunt. She said that they had found two masses in her brain. It wasn't a stroke it was CANCER. "Does grandma know yet, I asked?" "No, we want you to be there with us when we tell her." I called my sister and we went straight up to the hospital. She was sitting up in bed, smiling and was happy at the news that she hadn't had a stroke. Little did she know that we were there to deliver the news that would change her life forever.
I held her hand and my uncle told her the news. We told her what the doctor's told us....she could fight it. It wasn't going to be easy, and she had a long road ahead of her, but......She could fight it! And that is exactly what she did. Life changed, and it changed quickly. Unfortunately her and Stan broke up. He had lost his wife of 60+ years a few years earlier to cancer and I think the thought of going through it again with my grandma proved to be too much for him. It wasn't long after they broke up that we quickly realized that my grandma was having more trouble than we had expected. She was going down hill quickly.
I became her main caregiver. I helped her with everything from showering to taking her to all of her appointments. It was a full time job on top of my 4 children, husband, catering company, church responsibilities, friends, etc..... I barely found enough time to keep my laundry washed and my floors from becoming a sticky mess let alone do anything crafty or write a blog!
On Monday, August 22ND at 12:10am my Grandmother Marjorie J. Rudd lost her fight with Brain Cancer. She was 79 years old. I had no idea at the time that her cancer would not only change her life forever, but also change mine.
She taught me so much in the 4 months of her battle with this horrible disease. She taught me to live with no regrets. She taught me to always make sure your family knows that you love them and most importantly that we serve an amazing GOD. Even though we are not perfect and we make mistakes.....we are FORGIVEN. Christ died on the cross so that we could have a clean slate, do-overs a second chance. It is NEVER too late to ask for forgiveness. She was brave to the very end and I am so thankful that I got to spend that time taking care of her.
The last several months without her have been hard. I often am reminded of her by a picture, a smell, a sound and I just smile. Life goes on, thankfully I have a very forgiving family. They have been amazing through this journey. But I will say they are happy to have "me" back. So....I will be slowly but surely getting back "into" crafting, thrifting, blogging and whatever else I feel like doing in between the laundry, cooking, raising of said 4 children, and everything else that I manage to cram into a 24 hour period.
Thanks for stopping by,
Kristen
