The Best and Worst of Times
If we live long enough, we will experience periods of time where nothing seems to change, and everything is running along smoothly. However, in the same way, we will occasionally go through a stretch where we are completely overwhelmed. These past couple of months may have been some of the toughest of my life so far. Here is a short synopsis. Decided to move closer to family in Smyrna TN in February, started having a new home built, put our Summerville house on the market, got a contract in a week, had to find a rental home in Smyrna, started packing to move within a month, found out one of my jobs was ending after this semester, started looking for a new one, and found a teaching position a mile from our potential new home.
During this time, Ellen’s sweet niece, Kate, tragically had a stroke from which she couldn’t recover, leaving all of us utterly heartbroken. At essentially the same time, my mom took a turn for the worse at her memory care facility. My sister graciously brought Mom to her home where she passed away surrounded by 4 generations of loved ones. We had to be away from home for 3 weeks to be with family and work through the front end of our grief. When we finally made it back home, we had to finalize all the moving in 3 days, say goodbye to multiple dear friends, head out on Apr 19, and start setting up our rental home on Apr 21. During all of this, Ellen continued to deal with Long Covid that she has suffered with since June 2022.
Despite this enormous wave of chaos and challenge, I have never felt more loved in all my life. Ellen and I felt the care and support from our family and friends who stepped up in so many ways to help us get through these difficult days. I am eternally grateful to all who helped us carry the load! This experience has reminded me that so much of life is out of our control. Our most important task on any day is to continue to grow and nurture our relationships. When all is said and done, it’s with whom we said and did those things that really matters.
As I held my mother’s hand as she transitioned to her next chapter, time stood still, and the world faded away for just a minute or so. All the things that I felt I had to do, all the stress I was carrying, all the pain I was feeling paused briefly. In that moment, there was only love. We have no guarantees on how long our lives will be and when the last time we may see one another. So, remember to make the most of today and “love ‘em while we got ‘em”!