A Day To Remember

I feel like it's time I at least give an update of where I've been the last few weeks.

For Thanksgiving, we drove about 13 hours to North Carolina to see Mark, Steph and the girls. It was like we'd never been apart. The kids played in the back yard while the adults watched football, shopped and of course cooked. Steph and I got crafty and decided we were natural born stampers. It was very low-key and relaxing. Just what we needed. We got to see our friends Brandon and Maria Nudd and family. We miss them a lot, too. We drove home on Sunday.

That next Thursday, Mike got a call that his grandpa had been admitted to the hospital and things weren't looking good. The Murrill's are a very close family and upon hearing the news, we gladly dropped everything to hop in the van and make the 9 or 10 hour drive to Kansas City. It shouldn't take us that long, but with the kids, it always does. We arrived late Friday night and snuck into Mike's parents house to get to bed. Mike's brother Mark and his daughter Monroe were driving up from North Carolina and weren't far behind. We spent the whole day Saturday at the hospital with the family. Mike's Uncle Roger had come in from Denver. You can probably guess that it was a very emotional time. We cried. We talked to Grandpa, who was able to let us know he heard us. We sobbed. I watched Grandpa's sons and grandson's hearts break as they told him they loved him. It was very hard. While so much sadness and sorrow was felt in that room as we waited for the inevitable to happen, I couldn't help but see something incredibly beautiful. This man had more than memories and accomplishments to his credit. He had a legacy that will live on for generations to come, a life and story of hope, of love and acceptance, of believing in one's self, and the ultimate faith in God. My husband cried as he told the family how this man made him proud to be a Murrill. In fact, Grandpa Murrill was the first family member I met of Mike's. It was in Florida, over 10 years ago, when he was doing an internship at a hospital for the summer. I remember when we drove up to their house and Grandpa came out from the garage with a big smile on his face, always happy to see Mike, in whom he felt so much pride, and excited to meet me, the girl he had heard so much about. He loved people. He made you feel warm and comfortable. I remember after that visit, where we played karems and ate some of Grandma's delicious food, Mike told me that Grandpa really liked me. He said, "My grandma likes you a lot too, but Grandpa, he really likes you." I remember wondering what I could have possibly done to make him like me so much, of course I don't think it was anything I did, I think that was who he was. And it never changed. He always made you feel good about yourself.

Grandpa took his last breath around 5am on that Monday morning. We were filled with a lot sadness, and melancholy, but also some relief that he was resting peacefully. Monday we drove home. We were tired, but so glad we had been a part of those moments. So glad we could be together as a family and support Grandma and each other during this time.

I hadn't been feeling good, so I went to the doctor Tuesday afternoon. Sure enough, the doctor said I was sicker than she had first thought and that I probably wasn't telling her how bad I really felt. She said I had a sinus infection, an ear infection, and pneumonia. I was given a long list of medications and sent on my way. Wednesday, I was determined to take the kids to their doctor's appointments that had been scheduled for over a month. I did not want to put them off any longer, although considering my own health, I probably should have thought twice. My friend Kelsey, who is an extremely giving, unselfish person, had come over first thing in the morning to watch the kids for me while I rested and then helped me take them to the doctor's office (This was the second day she had come to help before I could get them to Shelley's house for the afternoon). Neither kid was in a good mood and after the doctor examined Max, screaming at the top of his lungs, I picked him up and he proceeded to vomit, massively. He covered my arm with it and then, chunks dripped all over my leg and the rest of it landed in a big pile on my shoe and the floor. I actually could not see my shoe through the pile on top of it. I had another "I don't know what I would have done without Kelsey" moment, as she held and soothed Max while the nurses were hurriedly cleaning up the mess while the doctor, Mason and I had gone into another room to finish his exam. Both kids are doing good, by the way. Max, who is usually in the 30th percentile has jumped to the 50th, and Mason, always a big guy, is above the 95th percentile. I can't say enough about how much I needed Kelsey around, even if it just made me feel like I wasn't alone. If she wasn't there, I was pretty sure I would have just sat down, all covered in regurgitated goldfish and cried. Thankfully, God sent a friend when I really needed it. To top it off, she also brought us dinner that night. My friend Jeana, brought us some potato soup the next day, which was amazing, and also a huge blessing as I've been trying to recover from this intense group of illnesses.

Tonight, for the third weekend in a row, we are driving. We are currently on our way out of Des Moines, Iowa, where we stopped and spent quite a while catching up with our friends Lance and Kyla. Kyla and Mike did their Masters at the same time at the University of Colorado when we lived in Denver. A year ago she married Lance and now they are almost halfway done "baking" their first child. We've stayed in touch with them and it's nice to be able to stop and see them when we make trips to Kansas City.

As you may have figured, we are on our way back to Kansas City. Grandpa's Memorial is tomorrow afternoon. There are a lot of people coming from across the country to celebrate his life. I know it will be wonderful to catch a glimpse of the mark he's left in this world by all the people he touched. I've known him only a fraction of the time most of these people have, but he still made an impact on me. I already know, that although tomorrow may be difficult in many ways, it will also be a great day. A day to remember, for a man we will never forget.