A Day to Remember

August 4.  A day to remember.  For so many reasons!
First, August 4 would have been Jeff's 52nd Birthday.  I was not dreading the day, I just didn't know what to expect.  I know what I have read and what I have been told but, everyone is different.  Also, we experienced some "firsts"  so soon (Father's Day and our Anniversary)  that I think maybe that helped us some. The kids and I all worked and stayed busy during the day.  For me, staying busy and having projects (there are many around here, especially in the summer!) helps! We had planned to get together in the evening after everyone was done working and celebrate Jeff.  We ate cheesecake (always Jeff's choice for a Birthday cake!) and toasted Jeff's life and Heaven's gain! 

 

We also spent some time reading "Jeff's Rocks".  (Thank you to everyone who contributed a rock to the jar, it is truly one of my favorite things! 

We also shared a toast for my Gramma Lou.  The kids Great Gram!  She was great:)  Gramma Lou passed away Sat. afternoon after a short battle with leukemia.  So many have remarked to me how wonderful it was that I (at 50 years old!) still had a gram!  Believe me, I know that I and the kids were lucky!  I am so happy that Gram was able to live on her own, in her house and drive and be so independent all her life!   She was a wonderful lady!  I will always remember spending the night with gram; we would play cards and sometimes had the TV on, usually if All in the Family was on, lol!  Gram almost always had the windows open and to this day I have a bedroom window open, even if just a crack (and yes, even if the AC is on and often in the winter too) so I can wake up to the birds singing as I did at her house.  I also woke up to Gram whistling every morning:)  At Gram's house, at least back then, the mail came in the morning.  Grams lived on a bit of a hill (it probably seemed really big to me back then!) and I remember the day she finally let me go get her mail all by myself!  That was a big deal!

This pic was taken 2 years ago at Christmas, she was 87 1/2 and looked great!

This morning I was reading with my morning coffee on the back deck (and listening to the birds and the lake) and these words struck me:  "The greatest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude."  That seems so appropriate!  I am so grateful to Jeff and Gram for so much and so I (try) and move forward focusing on all that we had with them and all that we learned from them.  They will  always be in our hearts and the memories that we hold dear will always be a part of us!

And so, August 4th was a difficult day, for more reasons than I anticipated but not at the end of the day, surrounded by the kids and fur kids and grand doggies and kitties with Hillary acting as our photographer,  and sharing memories and cheesecake and a toast to 2 very special people, I would say we all made it through as well as we could have "Making Every Moment Count!"


(((Hugs)))
 Brenda