On June 6th my sweet Grandma took her journey to Heaven. I went to see her during my lunch hour and knew her time was soon. I had been back to work for about 20 minutes and got the phone call I was dreading, she had passed away.
As I drove back to the nursing home to be with my family I was a wreck. She was 98 years old, had been ready to pass on for years to be with my Grandpa again, she was in pain, it still didn't make it any easier.
We all stayed by her side as hospice explained what would be happening. There happened to be a couple of gals singing for the residents and when they were done they came into my Grandma's room and sang "How Great Thou Art" for her and all of us.
The following days are kind of a blur, going through photos for her visitation, Bella's dance recital, Kyle and I squeezing in our anniversary dinner, the visitation and funeral, it all kind of runs together. It was a bittersweet time with so much good happening amongst the sadness.
I know she is dancing with Grandpa again up in Heaven, both of them watching over all of us, finally together again.
I cherish the memories I do have, my memory is so horrible I am terrified to lose them all. My time spent with them down in Arkansas all by myself is probably my favorite, I feel fortunate to still have that memory. Playing games, going to eat catfish at King Catfish, playing bingo, taking longs walks, exploring in the woods.
We loved my Grandma so much, this has been a hard time for Bella, seeing her go through her grief has been tough. Yesterday I had to pick her up from school, the second to last day but she said her tummy was upset. When we got home she just broke down crying, telling me she really missed Great Grandma. She is way too much like her mommy, very emotional and sometimes those emotions just take you over. When I reminded her that we can go visit Grandma whenever we want that made her feel a little bit better.
You left such a huge mark on all of us Grandma, we miss you so much, we love you with all of our hearts. I have some of the best guardian angels, and they will live on in our memories.
This is Bella's first year doing hip hop and she LOVES it! She missed the first pop out and got confused on another part but she did really well.
We'll practice more tonight before the recital tomorrow, I'm so proud of her, she wants to practice all the time. Her discipline with dance is impressive, she wants to be the best she can be :)
Hip hop is another genre she plans to continue with, I have a feeling this fall she will choose to do ballet, tap and hip hop. She really wants to do tap again, she didn't really like it when she HAD to do it as a "tiny dancer". Now she misses it since she isn't doing it.
Proud of our little lady she is really growing as a dancer!
Bella has her dance recital tomorrow, last night was dress rehearsal where we can take video.
She did awesome! Bella is in the front farthest to the right (looking at the video).
So proud of my little ballerina, she definitely will be keeping ballet in her dance choices as she moves forward with it.
Today is our 10 year anniversary, how can Kyle and I have been married for ten years already???
I remember that day so well, it was warm and sunny with some much needed sprinkles at just the right moment. During the photos it was crazy sunny, hot and buggy. Everyone kept having to pick bugs out of my huge dress, pretty hard to get them when they were stuck between the layers of tulle.
Before my dad walked me down the aisle it started to sprinkle, at first I was upset I was afraid it would start raining hard. My dad just held my hand and told me it was ok, a little rain wouldn't hurt anyone and it was good luck.
Our limo broke down on the interstate on our way to the reception, what a funny picture to see a wedding party standing on the side of the interstate drinking champagne in the rain :) My sister-in-law from California was the only one with an umbrella, thankfully she came to my rescue in the rain.
It was a beautiful day, we had such a blast with all of our family and friends.
In the past ten years we've bought a home, had our first dog Tybalt, had our beautiful daughter Bella, had our best friend live with us, one of my nephews live with us and now my father-in-law lives with us.
There have been obstacles I thought we would never be able to overcome, times when everything felt so broken we wondered how to put everything back together. Through it all we've always come back together and helped each other pull through some of the toughest, most unexpected moments in life.
We may not be perfect, but we are the most imperfect version of us and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I can't wait to see what the next ten years bring us. We are lucky to live the life we live surrounded by those we love and who love us. I am so grateful for this life I've built with Kyle, together we have done some amazing things, the most amazing part of course is Bella.
Here's to the next ten years!
