A prayer for Mom

I asked my mother this week if she had a special saint she asked to intercede for her when she was struggling, she gave me a strange look and said, "Mary," like I should have known that! We couldn't quite come up with which vision of Mary she sees, we will explore this further, in the future.
This is a picture of the Althea bush in front of my parents' kitchen. My Mom loves this prayer, I think this is what we will continue to say for her healing. I had copies of this printed to pass out to friends and family but CVS cropped the words so I'll need to do it again.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

7/16/19 is a day seared in my memory forever. It is the day that we found out that the conditions of aging plaguing my mother were worse than we thought: Corticobasal Degeneration. The rug was pulled out from under me. I knew she had aphasia, memory loss and mild cognitive difficulties but I never expected a Parkinson's plus diagnosis. Reading about the course of the disease made things worse. Mom is 80, well outside the diagnosis for CBD and 10 years past the expected life span. Mom has a good attitude and wants to get better, that is the plan. She will get established with a home health agency and get some much needed speech therapy. She will get Physical Therapy to build her strength and take medications to manage symptoms. Planning ahead is heart-wrenching. Mom is on her own timeline, CBD doesn't know who it is dealing with. Mom is a very strong, resilient woman. It is her family that needs stronger faith and prayers of peace.

I refuse to believe that my mother's life will end unable to speak, understand and physically incapacitated. I DO believe in miracles and will continue to pray for a miracle for my mother!

O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of a complete and miraculous healing of Nana. Amen.

https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/corticobasal-degeneration/

Good News!

When I went for my annual exam, the MD told me that my insurance would pay for BRCA genetic testing. Two of my Aunts and one cousin are breast cancer survivors. Last Fall, one of my Aunts had two surgeries and radiation for a second breast cancer diagnosis, 22 years after the first one. She does not carry the BRCA genes but has a variant.
I found out today that I do not carry the BRCA1, BRCA2 or have a variant BRCA gene! A little bit of stress was lifted from my shoulders. It is crazy how I didn't even know I was carrying the stress until it was lifted! Many thanks to Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Rest In Peace, sweet Jonny

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may eternal light shine upon him, may his soul and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, Rest In Peace. Amen.

We had a tragedy in our Catholic homeschool community last week. Rainbow Baby's 5 year old friend died suddenly of sepsis. I've been friends with his Mom for about ten years, this is unexpected and heartbreaking, there are no words, none. This lovely family has five more children (15, 12, 9, 7 and 1) Seeing there sad faces today at the funeral was gut wrenching.

From the time Rainbow Baby and Jonny were very little, their siblings called them sweethearts. As loving, outgoing and joyful as Jonny was, I suspect he had more than one "girlfriend."

 

We have been told that he died from sepsis. Sepsis is scary and looks like so many other benign medical conditions.

https://youtu.be/7f_FxKGEk4E

Saint Jonathan Michael, pray for us!

Another Sad Mother’s Day

For the past several years, Mother's Day has been filled with overwhelming sadness. I can't quite figure out the source of my sadness.
I am more of a gift-of-service person than anything else, so I am usually very happy when the kids clean the kitchen and make me cards. I ask for a clean kitchen or good church behavior for my birthday and mother's day. I did hint that I wanted New baking racks and a canister set, but suggested it for my birthday. I don't think it isn't because I didn't "get" anything. Yesterday, Number One Son rode his bike to H-E-B and bought me three doughnuts and cleaned the kitchen and took care of the entire set of cast iron. I got sweet cards from Number One Daughter, Number Two Son and Rainbow Baby. My MIL sent me a sweet musical e card and FaceBook was filled with greetings and Mother's Day Love. I talked to my Mom for almost an hour on the phone. I miss her, we haven't been able to visit because the Suburban has transmission problems and my spare tire is flat.
Yesterday, at Mass, our baby Priest talked asked for prayers for mothers of miscarried babies, babies lost to abortion and those struggling with infertility. I wonder if my sadness has to do with the children I didn't get to "mother?"
I guess I have to be ok with not knowing, this is hard, but I've had lots of practice.

Cap 2K!

Number One Son swam the #Cap2K last week.
He has almost always been "The Little Engine That Could" when it comes to swimming.
The night before the swim, I was reflecting on one of his first experiences in the swimming pool. He was wearing a white bucket hat, lots of sunscreen and turquoise baby swim trunks. He jumped right out of my arms and SANK! He had no protective mechanism at all!! I grabbed him right away but it felt like it was happening in slow motion. He had 3 summers of swim lessons and the next year, we bought him a snorkel mask and snorkel and that summer he could swim non-stop for hours. The next summer, we practiced swimming with goggles and no snorkel and put him on the City of Austin Swim Team. Summer League Swim team has been so good for him. He still struggles with dyspraxia, but he has figured out how to swim efficiently, slow and steady.
As he swam under us, an overwhelming sense of relief and pride overtook me, I couldn't talk, I just wanted to race down to the finish line to see him and congratulate him for a job well done.

Homeschool Blessings

Today is our Homeschool Blessing Mass. We have been homeschooling for close to 10 years!
The year after we started homeschooling, I coordinated my first Blessing Mass. I had no idea what I was doing!!
It was much easier this year and last. I a so very thankful for the beautiful families that the Holy Spirit has placed in my path. I really miss the families that I met when we first started homeschooling and the wonderful K4J families and park day friends. How am I going to create similar memories for my caboose? I find it increasingly difficult to find social outlets for her. I know people with children her age but our schedules don't match up (or it is a common/reoccurring fear that my kids' behavior and our food allergies have alienated us from everyone.)
A long time ago when our lives were in turmoil, a beloved priest told us to "circle the wagons" and focus on our little family. Ever since then, it has been very, very difficult to join or return to normalcy.

Jesus I Trust You!