Getting Back To Normal

It's been a hectic year.


On January 3, 2009 my Aunt Betty passed away. My parents and brother George went to her memorial service. George had told Pop to take his cane to go from the door to the viewing room while he parked the car. Pop got angry and said he could walk without it. By the time George had parked the car, the funeral personnel had called for an ambulance because Pop had fallen flat on his face and had to be rushed to a hospital.

While in the hospital they did everything from CAT scan to dialysis, but Pop passed away on January 20.

Pop had always taken care of everything, so Ma had a stressful time after he died. She and George thought that a move would help. They had found another house. When I spoke to Ma, she sounded excited about the move. Her 87th birthday came in October. A week later she died suddenly. Our dog Bobo died the day of Ma's funeral.


We're still getting used to the changes in our family.


Of course life will never be the same. We've learned a lot over the past year. Some things we had thought were important, aren't. Some things we took for granted we now realize are very important. Things like God, family, our parish community, friends.


I was just reading Prime Times, a seniors' publication. They have a small column Words of Wisdom, in which this month they quoted Sylvia Todaschuk. She's a familiar face at the Todaschuk Sisters Ukrainian Boutique. Sylvia said:

Never hold a grudge as life is too short. Always stay positive - the more you give of yourself, the more you receive from God, and remember that prayer and faith in God will take you through everything.


It's been a hard year. We learned a lot.


Prayer and faith in God will take you through everything.


Amen.