April ->>>August and After

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I guess this is going to be somewhat of a saga, so...here goes. This is kind of my last year in recap, but kind of all at one time instead of in bits and pieces. This story is not told to gain your sympathy, but to relate how very gracious our God is in supplying our needs as we have them. 

 Last year at the end of April, I was planning to attend our grandson's wedding here in Texas. Matthew and his dear Amy were getting married on the first weekend in May. I couldn't leave my husband, W.B. (Dubby) by himself because he had dementia, and was not able to care for himself, and so I left him in the care of an assisted living facility that he and I had both been in for a month the year before when I was recovering from surgery. We lived in East Tennessee at the time. So, on the first of May, I flew to Texas and left Dubby in the facility. While I was here in Texas, he fell and broke a hip the day before the wedding, which he then had surgery to repair, and I headed back home the day following the wedding. His nieces and our good friend (and surrogate daughter, Allie), looked after him in the hospital until I could get back home. God supplied that need as it came.


From the hospital then, it was into the nursing home for him (and me, kind of, because when a family member is in the nursing home the rest of the family is there, too, many hours of the day). All through the month of May and June, there were many things to be done, and I had the support of so many people - friends, family, and some that were strangers but soon became friends. I also had the grace of God to bear me up. During that time, there were many decisions to be made...what to do if Dubby didn't make it home but had to remain in the nursing home indefinitely (till death) and how could we afford it? The truth is, we could not have. God supplied the ways for us to go.


I decided to go ahead and apply for Medicaid, because we have never been what could be considered wealthy by the world's standards. After talking it over with Carol, we decided the best thing I could do was to buy a house out here in Texas. While I was rushing around, getting documents, and caring for Dubby every day at the nursing home, our daughter, Teresa, who lives in Alabama, and I, searched for the right house online while our daughter, Carol, and her husband, Daryl, out here in Texas searched in person, actually seeing the houses. They found one that we had liked the looks of to be quite suitable, in a good neighborhood and wheelchair accessible in case Dubby got to leave the nursing home. God supplied that need.


In the meantime, my Dubby was not getting any stronger, but weaker, and among other problems, had to be permanently catheterized because of kidney failure from his diabetes. Carol and Daryl arranged for him to be accepted at a local nursing home here in Texas, and our niece, Donna, who lives in East Tennessee, came and took us from the nursing home in TN to the airport in Knoxville, and saw us off on our way to Texas. We arrived here and Carol picked us up at the airport and took us the a wonderful nursing home here in Texas that was only about five minutes from the house I bought here with Carol's help. This was on July 7th, and twenty days later, he was gone to be with our Lord. I had just been home to Tennessee to pack up the house and my neighbors, the Benjamins, literally packed it up for me with my directions.  I had driven back with my good friend, Ina, and God supplied that need so that I would not have to return to Texas driving by myself. My Dubby had told the nurse that night that he was going home and he went to be with our God the very next morning.


The whole family here, and our grandson in Illinois with his family, came back to Tennessee to honor him and see him laid to rest. When I say the whole family here and in Illinois, I mean sixteen people plus me. He would have been so pleased. The funeral services were beautiful and I had the support and love of so many friends there that we had known in our lifetime there. God was right there with us.

While we were in Tennessee, I discovered that our daughter, Teresa, had breast cancer and would soon begin treatment for that. God has been so good to us in the past few months, bringing her and her husband, Tom, through the time of recovery in her illness. (God is good all the time) 


The months since Dubby's passing have been a time of mourning for me, and still, quite often, I feel the sadness creep over me, but I know that Dubby is in God's hands. I have found so many new friends here, it is wonderful. The people at Carol and Daryl's church just opened their arms to me and took me in and comforted me in my time of sorrow. I have been attending a Bible study in James and realizing anew how very much God is there for all Christians who have trials and sorrows. It has been a very fulfilling study for us. 

I have been able to slowly adjust to being alone, and my family here has been wonderful. Teresa is recovering and has been able to keep working from home...God is good all the time...and I know their faith has been strengthened by the trials they have been through. She is almost finished with her radiation treatments. We get to see each other on Skype and talk almost every day.


Well, that is a good portion of my story. I get to see our grandchildren often because most of them live here in the area, and it is wonderful. I  keep in touch with family back in Tennessee and am planning to visit for a week in May. I keep busy here, and have become a Farmville player, and have met a lot of wonderful people that way. I feel like I know them personally. I am a "people person". I look forward to getting to know many of you, my blogging friends. 


This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.