Blessed Beyond Measure: A Team Week 223: Saying Goodbye

We thought that when Christmas was behind us life would settle down for a few weeks before the baby arrived, but boy were we wrong! In the wee hours of the morning on Christmas day Eric's beloved grandmother, Grace Smiley passed away at the age of 88. While we were saddened by this news, we did know it was coming soon and it brought us joy to get to tell the boys that GG Smiley was going to celebrate Jesus' birthday with Him.

As the mother of Eric's mother and my grandmother only by marriage, Grandma Smiley brought me into her family and heart right from the beginning. When my own last living grandparent died in 2004, Grace readily accepted the job of filling in the gap and continually reminded me of such. She was a kind, loving, feisty, fun and affectionate woman; a leader to the Smiley family. With her, we were given amazing opportunities such as a trip to Europe for Eric, his Mom and his sister and three family cruises for the entire Smiley clan. We were also given wonderful and memorable stories which will live on for years to come. With her passing, she and all of the joy that she brought to this world will be missed greatly, and in addition to these emotions, we also had to face the logistics of our goodbyes.

Ideally, we would all have gone to Michigan to attend her funeral, but with my due date being only 3 weeks away my doctor did not recommend that I make the trip and I'm not sure I could have even if I tried. With me staying home, Eric was very torn about whether or not he would go. He did not want to leave me and was afraid that something would happen while he was gone if he went. At the same time though, I could tell that he also really didn't want to miss his Grandmother's funeral. All week we debated what we should do, but in the end we jointly decided that Eric would fly to Detroit early on Friday morning for the visitation and funeral and then fly back to Chicago that evening.

In the midst of figuring all of this out, the rest of our week also strayed from the norm as it was in fact the week of Christmas. Originally, my parents had planned to stick around after Christmas for a couple of days to play with the boys and then head to my brother's house to spend the weekend with them. However, because of Grandma's funeral and my being VERY pregnant, they stayed with us until Saturday instead to help me with the boys while Eric was gone. Thus, on Wednesday I headed to work for the day while everyone else stayed home.

Video: Mario Kart

On Thursday, I again headed to work and my parents took the boys to Crystal Lake for the day to visit my brother's family. Since they stayed in the area for dinner, Eric and I were also able to enjoy a little dinner of our own.

On Friday, Eric said goodbye to me as he headed to O'hare before the sun came up. Then, I worked from home for the day while my parents watched the boys.

While the reason behind Eric's trip to Michigan was sad, he was able to enjoy the time there catching up with family and seeing a few memorable sights from his childhood.

The sunrise from the air.

Eric's 1st childhood home...kind of reminds me of our own home now.

The local store where he was able to get icee drinks.

On Saturday, it was time to say goodbye to my parents after enjoying their company for an entire week. The boys were sad to see them go, but their sadness was relieved by the knowledge that Grammy and Gramps were coming to visit in just two days. It was a holiday of grandparents at our home! We headed out together for a late breakfast and then said our goodbyes.

Later that day, the boys shared a little father-son date of their own when Eric took them to see a UW Parkside basketball game with court-side seats! From the sounds of it, they had a blast and I fully enjoyed a little peace and quiet at home.

Video: Avery Dancing

Finally, on Sunday we enjoyed a family day at home just the four of us. Asher surprised me with breakfast in 'bed' (or actually on the couch where I slept for most of my pregnancy), we went to church, and then the boys worked on some projects together in Eric's work room while I got some more much needed rest as a cold and nasty cough I'd acquired from Asher was taking its toll on my already exhausted body.

"Breakfast in Bed"

"Take a picture of me mom!"

So that was our last full week of 2018 and with its ending we geared up for the excitement of 2019 to come. That is not the end of this post though. Instead, I would like to end this post with some words about Grandma Smiley that Eric's uncle wrote and pictures of her living life with her family.