He Is Risen!!!

I have been nursing a cold for several days now. I always like to try to get rid of the sore throat and cough myself before I end up going to the dr. for the strong drugs. Funny thing is, when Tom gets the first signs of a cold, I fuss at him to go ahead to the dr. before it gets into bronchitis..!! Well, that is exactly what I didn`t do and here I am, after an afternoon doctor visit, a steroid shot and a z pack.... here at home with bronchitis! No big deal, I will get better, just coughing and not sleeping much. As I am getting older, I don`t sleep as much anyway. Reminds me of my mother. I always wondered why in the world she would get up so early, 5 or 5:30, saying she couldn`t sleep, when she could stay in bed for a few more hours! Blink forward a few years and here I am, doing the same thing!!

While I was at the doctor, I had time to speak to her for  a minute about how she was doing. We usually spend so much time talking about what is the matter with us, that I don`t always ask Renee about her... Lately though,  I found out that her husband had left their practice that they had together, retired early, because he has been diagnosed as having Alzheimer... He is a young man, in his 50`s, and now... he is retired. Renee, has been thrown into a new life, ready or not. She was once sharing a busy practice with her husband, and was able to be off a few days a week, while she raises her two girls. Now she is the sole career person, working 5 days, plus a new description has been added to her life... taking care of her husband and worrying about him. We talk because she knows that I know and understand. You see, her in-laws were good friends with our parents and they knew what we went through when Papa was diagnosed with Alzheimers.  She would always ask me about him those years that we went through that with him..Tonight, as I look back over the day, , I am sad for Renee. I am sad for the times ahead of her, knowing it is going to get so much harder

That is a terrible disease... it robs you of your life, slowly, day by day...

I remembered Papa, as I was leaving the office, and I missed the years we had before he had the disease. He was always a talker. I wished I had paid more attention. I wish I remembered more of his stories. I wished I had written them down. I miss the years with Mother and Papa, being there for us, for me. I miss picking up the phone to call her everyday, asking how they were. When I got home, I had a letter in my mail box. As I opened it up, having fresh memories of them both in my mind, I glanced at who it was from... Judy, one of Mother`s best friends. They had been brought together through alzheimers... when Judy`s husband was also diagnosed with it. Papa and Joe were friends, when they didn`t even know who each other were. As they sat together in the care of others, they knew they looked familiar and that was enough for them. But the bond was strengthened between the two wives, as the disease progressed and began to take over. They shared thoughts that no one could possibly understand unless you were there, where they were, in their journey with the husbands.

Even through this terrible part of their walks, their marriages, God was providing for the ladies, when He brought them together to lean on each other and to talk. He took Joe the same year as Papa and Mother went home to be with Him in 2010. Now, here is Judy, sending me a note to let me know how much she loved Mother and how she misses her. I know she does... She lost her best friend and her husband, a hard, hard year for her... but as we get to this time of the year, Easter.... we rejoice in the new birth that He has given those who are home with Him. We rejoice in the new birth that He offers to all who believe and we rejoice because HE IS RISEN!!!

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