We’re Still Alive

Well, hi there.

I’m glad to finally have a minute to sit down and catch up on some blog reading and writing. We’ve had a hectic couple of weeks. And a hard couple of weeks.

Four days after we returned from Colorado vacation {which I’ve yet to finish blogging about}, my Granddaddy went to be with the Lord. His death seemed very fast, considering that he gave the final for his college geometry class at William Carey only a month before he died {at 85 years old}. Mama said he graded every paper {some of them as she was driving him to the doctor’s office for blood work} and turned in his grades on time.

Thank you to all who sent condolences through texts, calls, flowers, etc. Your words and thoughts and prayers meant a lot.

I basically unpacked from Colorado, washed, and re-packed to head to Mississippi. Our time in Mississippi was both good and hard at the same time. It was so good to be with family, remembering and celebrating Granddaddy’s life. It was so good to have the assurance that he is with the Jesus. It was so hard to believe {and face the fact} that he’s not here anymore. It will take some time.

I don’t think I mentioned that the week of the funeral was the week that I was supposed to be in my first J-term {summer intensive} class. Although I had already done about 80% of the bazillion pages of  required reading, I dropped the class and picked up a completely different class for the next week. You do what you gotta to do, and I didn’t want to have to worry about making up class during my Granddaddy’s funeral. We got back to Louisville at about 1 am Sunday morning and started class {me} and work {Adam} Monday morning.

Adam had a fever Saturday night/Sunday morning. Neither of us thought much about it, though. We did get a little concerned when his face started breaking out with blisters on Monday. After a visit to the doctor, a visit to the ER, and multiple phone conversations with my dad, Adam was unanimously diagnosed with hand foot and mouth disease {Coxsackie virus}.

Let me just tell you, YOU DO NOT WANT THIS VIRUS! Oh my goodness. It’s been bad, y’all. Really, really bad. I don’t think I’ve ever washed my hands so much. Or gone through so many Lysol wipes. Or felt so, so sorry for my poor husband. By God’s grace, Luke and I have stayed well so far. And I’m so thankful that my mother-in-law and niece were here to take care of both my boys so I could attempt to finish my class and pass the two exams I had to take this week. It was hard enough to leave my baby all day, every day for the first time. It was even harder knowing that my husband was absolutely miserable and that he couldn’t hold or comfort our baby when I left.

The good news is that, a week later, Adam seems to {slowly but surely} be on the mend. The bad news is that it’s still not a good idea for him to get too close to me or Mr. Boy. He probably won’t even be able to hug/kiss us goodbye before he leaves for 7 weeks of Chaplain training very soon. This is so hard. But not as hard as facing cancer or some other terminal illness would be. I remind myself often that things could be a lot worse. And I firmly believe that God uses every trial, no matter how big or small, to sanctify us and make us more like Christ. For these things, we can truly rejoice and be thankful.

Now, enough about death and sickness! I thought I would share a few 10 month pictures of Mr. Boy before I sign out. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even get even one little smile out of him for these pictures. Poor thing, must be feeling the ripples of the last couple of weeks. But it’s a new a week. And things are looking up!