Tag Archives: away

Tom’s Mom

It seems like I have been going to a lot of funerals lately.  Last week I went to my Aunt Judy’s funeral, who had lost her fight against cancer.  This weekend I went to my mother-in-law’s funeral, who also lost her fight against cancer.  It seems that more and more people are losing their battle against cancer, and it is troubling. Although I could totally get on my soapbox at this point, I won’t.  This post is about Rebecca Rogers – Tom’s mother, my Mother-in-Law and my children’s Grandmother (Maw-Ma).

I cannot imagine losing a parent.  Although Tom knew that it was coming, I don’t think he, or anyone else, could ever be fully prepared for the actual event.  I am thankful that he was there with her when she went to heaven.  As a Christian, it is comforting to know that a loved one, and fellow believer in Christ, is immediately in heaven with the Lord when the heart stops beating.  We miss the person here on Earth, but we also rejoice in the new life that is given in heaven.  Rebecca is now in heaven with a new body that is no longer sick. In that, we rejoice.

I have to say that one of the hardest events of the last week was telling the kids that Maw-Ma had passed away.  The children literally cried and wailed, Wilson especially.  He was really looking forward to going up to see her again so that he could say good-bye to her. Wilson is a sweet and sensitive little boy, and although he didn’t pay Maw-Ma a lot of attention when in Pennsylvania, she was still his grandmother and he loved her.  Faith spent the most time with her;  they would color together and Maw-Ma would teach Faith about the Appalachian mountains and the Susquehanna River.  We were planning to go up to visit this past weekend, but instead of a visit with her, we went to her funeral.  It is sometimes amazing how we make plans for one thing, but end up doing another on the same day.

The funeral was a nice memorial of Rebecca.  There were many scriptures that she wanted to have read which allowed many loved ones to come up and speak.  She wanted to be remembered for her faith in Christ.  She knew who her Lord was and hoped that she had pointed to Him throughout her life.  I am sad that she is gone and I know that she will be missed.  She loved her family dearly and was committed to showing my children how much she loved them and wanted to be with them.   I know that they will miss her as well.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Faith and Maw-Ma….

  

Weekend Away

Last month I told Tom that I needed a weekend away from cooking, cleaning, remodeling and being a mother. His response was, “Good. Go.” (He is a man of very few words sometimes.). I then thought to myself – where in the world am I going to go?  Thankfully, my sweet Uncle Doug has a condo on Lake Norman, about forty minutes away, that he said I could use. I had originally planned to go next weekend, but Tom decided to run in a ten mile race next Saturday so I moved up my getaway weekend to this weekend – Valentines weekend. A few friends thought that it was very strange that I would go away on Valentines weekend, but anyone that knows me knows I am not much of a romantic. I actually do not like Valentine’s Day. To me, it is a holiday that forces everyone be romantic one day of the year. I would much rather be romantic on a random Tuesday then on a day when everyone is being romantic because they feel that they have to be. So, being the rebel that I am, I went away for the weekend to rest and to be alone. Of course when Faith found out that I was going away on Valentines weekend she cried and said that we needed to be together.  That feeling must have passed because they didn’t come up and see me as planned.  I love my children and husband, but I really just wanted the whole weekend to myself.  I have books to read, a Bible study to do, and just general laying around on my list.

Last night I met my long time friend, Patty, out for dinner.  She lives only a few exits away from the condo where I am in Davidson, NC.  Davidson is a cute town that I have never been to before now.  We met at Brick House for dinner and drinks.  Of course, dinner with Patty is always a 2-3 hour affair because she and I have so much to catch up on.  I loved the dinner and I have been eating the leftovers all day which fits in perfectly with my “no cooking” rule.

Tom texted me late Friday night to say that all was well and that the kids were all sleeping with him in our bed because they missed me.  Very sweet.  I am sure that they are having a blast eating pizza, watching movies and drinking milk all weekend.  :)

I woke up this morning at 9:00am (which is very late).  I never get to sleep in that long.  I woke up, leisurely at breakfast, drank my chai tea and read my new book.  My friend, Erin, texted me around 10:00 to ask if I was bored yet. LOL!  I did get bored by about noon so I set off to find a coffee shop so that I could do my Bible study and get out of the condo.  By the time I left the coffee shop my bottom hurt from sitting down so much.  I rarely ever sit down so I am sure my body was beginning think -WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!?!  A nice walk around the lake cured that ailment and now I am back to sitting, reading and relaxing for the rest of the evening.  Anyone jealous yet? :)

My husband is a very kind man for letting me escape reality for 48 hours.  Every six months or so I need a few days to remember who I am and what is important to me.  During this time I have thanked God many times for my family and all of the blessings that we have in this life.  The lake is beautiful to admire and I will look forward to returning home to Tom, the kids and the chaos that is my life tomorrow afternoon.  For now , I will bask in the quiet and stillness of my little vacation nest.

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