So I am a horrible blogger lately, yes, this I know. I know many people understand given it's a business time of year and all.
Unfortunately, it has also been a horrible week in the Houston family. Russ's dad's girlfriend passed away on Tuesday afternoon. His dad called us Monday to say she was not doing well (we were supposed to get together for our "Christmas" with him) and had taken a fall the day before. He asked us to postpone our dinner with him, and then called us back later to say they had to rush her to the emergency room because she was showing signs of a stroke. Russ's aunt later called to inform us that they weren't sure she would make it through the night. I had "Yai-Yai" come over and sit with the kids so we could go to the hospital to be with him...she has a rather large and extremely "overwhelming" family. We went up there and sat with Jim and tried to keep his mind off the "madness" surrounding (as much as was possible with about 35 people there all at once!) We went home late and then he called later on Tuesday afternoon to tell us that she had passed. She was only 68 years old and suffered from COPD.
It's a really hard situation. She lived with Russ's dad for years, I think 11 to be exact. My kids considered her another grandma, she was "Mana Dorfey" to them. I remember going out to Russ's dad's with Faith when she was just a toddler and playing with all the farm cats out there, 4 of which are now part of my mom's, grandma's, and aunt's households. No one could tame those 'ol farm cats like her! She was a fiery little woman and loved my girls like they were her own grandgirls. Her health started declining when Emmy was about 3 years old, and it just kept going down from there. She was just not the same person she used to be, she was tired and on oxygen all the time. Yesterday when we were getting ready for the visitation, Faith asked me if this was the part where the family stands around and people shake their hands. I told her yes it was, and she asked "But we are her family, why aren't we going to do that?" Ah....the innocence of childhood, I hope she never grows out of it.
The service was a really good one. I've been to two kinds of funerals, ones with the "typical funeral" scriptures and a message with no truth or substance to it. Then I have been to our churches funerals...where the truth is preached and it usually ends with some sort of alter call. This particular pastor was a family friend, and he did a fabulous job given the circumstances, and at the end he laid out the gospel message in a wonderful way. I was pretty impressed with that.
I hope to have my Christmas pictures uploaded soon so that I can share some of the wonderful times we had this year. It was a great Christmas to be had by all!
2 comments:
What a rough way to bring in a new year. That little Faith is a wise girl, ya know. And I know what you mean about funeral sermons... I've literally been to hundreds of funerals in my life, most preached by my dad, but there have been some that were by others and were, less than truthful, we'll call it. Hard to listen to... Glad you guys could be there for him.
Sorry to hear about your loss Misty.
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