As Thanksgiving is upon us, our holiday will not turn out to be the way that we had planned for it to be. Ed’s mother, who is 87 years old, is in the hospital. Yesterday she was in town with the lady who stays part-time with her when something happened to her. From the way the lady described it, it must’ve been a pin stroke. Ed’s mother became confused, lost function in her legs, and lost the ability to speak temporarily. By the time we got her to the hospital, she was feeling better, but the doctor admitted her overnight for observation.
We thought that she might be released today, but she had some more problems today, possibly another pin stroke. They are running tests and observing her. This will be the first Thanksgiving that we’ve missed having lunch with her in 39 years. She will be missed. I don’t know what the future will bring for her, but I hope she doesn’t have another stroke. She had one about 23 years ago, which affected her ability to write and speak for a while, but she recovered nicely. At age 87, we realize that she’s very fagile, and anything can happen at any time.
The uncle that my husband and I have in common is also in the hospital. If you aren’t familiar with this story, my daddy’s younger brother, married Ed’s mama’s younger sister. Their daughter set Ed and I up on a blind date, that’s how we met.
Anyway, our uncle is in the same hospital(where Ed also works) with double pneumonia. He’s not doing well at all. He had hip replacement surgery in January. He did very well with the surgery, but then suffered 2 strokes about a month after the surgery. These strokes left him unable to walk and have affected his mind. He had to be placed in a nursing home and his health has been declining steadily during the past 7 months. We hate to see him in such a way. He’s had pneumonia for a while now, and I don’t know how this is all going to turn out. He’s the last of my daddy’s brothers.
The story gets a little sadder because both of our aunt and uncle’s children have passed away. Their son had cystic fibrosis and died at age 19. Their daughter died in a shooting incident when she was in her forties…s0 much tragedy for one family. The daughter left behind 3 children. Our aunt and uncle’s grandchildren are now grown, but live 7 hours away.
So, as we enjoy our meal, and give thanks to God, our table will be missing one important person, and our hearts and prayers will be with her , as well as our uncle(and his wife who is having a tough time). We are to give thanks in good and bad times, which is what we will do. Even with the sickness, we really do have a lot of things to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone…
Reflections...by Kathy 
Happy Thanksgiving. My prayers are with you.