Nana-Joy

Most of you know

how hard this past year

has been on my mom.

She lost her husband this Fall

and almost immediately

began caring for her mother

who is suffering from Alzheimers.

It is such a sad disease.

Over the past several months

my grandmother's mental health has

deteriorated rapidly

and the demands on my mom

have grown just as rapidly.

Although exhausted and emotionally spent

almost every day,

my mom has taken on this responsibility

with such a great attitude

and a caring heart that could only come

from God.

She just takes every single day

as a new opportunity to

do the right thing

no matter how it infringes on

her own grieving/healing period

or personal desires.

My mom has always been like that.

Investing herself into other people

and making their world warm and loving.

She's an amazing person

and I am in awe of her example.

Mom really needed to play in the Gulf

this month with a little boy that adores her

and I'm so glad she was able to do that!

We spent our nights at a quiet beach house

and our days running around with Zane or

snuggling with Easton

or being with family.

It was so therapeutic for my mom.

Zane calls my mom

"Nana-Joy".

That is such a perfect nickname for her

because she loves to give

joy to others

and tries to have a joyful outlook on life.

There is something about

digging your feet in the sand,

letting the waves lap at your legs

with their chilly arrival

and then quickly retreat taking

tension and stress with them.

Something is so calming

about being on the Ocean or Gulf shore.

It soothes the soul and balances

life's struggles for a little while.

The same can be said for holding a

new life in your arms.

It kind of puts things in perspective.

Balances life's ebb and flow.

And there's my mom.

Caught right between life's Spring

and life's Autumn season.

Loving both so intensely,

opening her heart to both,

accepting and caring for both

in such gentle ways.

If Spring is the gentle pastels of

new life,

Autumn is bursting with color in

celebration of a life well lived.

Grandma is in her Autumn now,

but soon it will be Spring again for her!

If you pray,

please remember her as she goes in

for an operation this Thursday morning.

She's having surgery on her elbow.

She has a severe break and needs

surgery if she will ever use her left arm again.

She's been very weak these past few days

so please pray for strength to heal.

My grandma is so blessed to have three

daughter's who love and care for her

very much.

I hope when I'm in my Autumn years

that I'm surrounded by such love.

I know Nana-Joy will be!