Very Thankful Month

Thankful Thursday

This has been one crazy month for our family. We have had PCS orders, we have had to hold our breath during a shutdown, and we have had to say goodbye to friends here in Alaska. I want to take this Thankful Thursday to wrap up my month long series, Remembering Patty, as well as listing the many reasons I have to be thankful today! There is much to be thankful for in life, and sometimes you do have to be intentional in seeing it. Why don’t you take a moment and count your blessings!

I am most thankful for this month of Remembering Patty, even though most of the posts lead to a pile of wadded tissue on the table. I am thankful for the memories that I still have of my MIL, and I am thankful that October gave me both a cause and a challenge to write about. I am so thankful for having known Patty and the influence she was in our family. But my thanksgiving doesn’t stop there.

I am also thankful that God didn’t leave that hole in our family. My FIL married a very delightful woman named Joyce. I am quite thankful for her as well.

The grieving process is a rough one, as I am sure most of you understand. The pain and memories show up in strange places and the hurt wells up quickly in those moments. Grieving can also be a long process, but it is not, nor should it be, a forever process. Grief should not last forever and it should not hinder your ability to embrace life again. There is a time for grieving, absolutely! We lost a huge person in our lives! But Patty’s death didn’t stop our lives. We missed her terribly, but we still had to work, go to school, and raise our children. We mourned for Patty, with our heads cast down and allowed the tears to flow. But eventually, we had to raise our heads to see that life could and did indeed go on. While we miss her, it is no longer the accute pain of a fresh wound. Thankfully, we mourned well and have allowed God to move our lives along. Now we remember Patty with a smile.

We have also been able to embrace Joyce. I am thankful for her patience and understanding. We all had a tough time at first, feeling as if Patty was trying to be replaced. Joyce did an excellent job of letting us know that she wasn’t trying to do that. She worked hard to be a good friend and grandmother. I am very thankful that she has fallen in love with her grandkids. She loves having them over, she loves taking them overnight so the parents can have a break. I am thankful that she also plays the role of peace-maker. She is a wonderful woman and a great MeeMaw. I am very thankful that God brought her into our lives and I am thankful that we had mourned properly so that we could embrace her. Sure, it took a while, especially for the boys. But God is good to us and He gave us a sweet person to love.

Thank you for taking this month long journey with me. Just like grieving, it has been fun to fill my mind with the memories and I am so thankful that I have so many memories (some of which never made it into a full post). But I am also thankful that life will continue to move on, with blessings being new each and every morning.

I am ready to move into a new month of blogging!

This is the last post of a series “Remembering Patty”.