Totally Made My Day

Have you even had one of THOSE days where you just get emotionally drained? One of those days where no matter how much you clean your house it never gets cleaned, or whatever can go wrong does??? Well that has been my day today. I won't bore you with the details but by 5:00 I was completely exhausted and finished!
Because I have such a sweet hubby he took most of the kids with him when he took Abby to cello lessons, and he even made dinner and had the kids do a bunch of cleaning. It helped, but I have still been feeling so emotionally drained. Maybe its because Lee has been so sick, or because he threw up during my piano lessons, or no matter how much I cleaned the house got worse. . . . or one of the many other things that happened today. Whatever it is, I am spent.
And then I got an email.
I had written to a company called Heritage Makers to tell them about the book that I made for my Grandma Lee at Christmas time. It was a book about my Grandpa Lee that is full of memories of my grandpa from myself and my cousins. I gave it to my Grandma at Christmas time and she still calls me up every once in awhile to thank me for making it and she tells me how much she loves it.
I love that book too. That was why I wrote to Heritage Makers. Then, tonight in my email inbox I got an email from Heritage Makers asking for my permission for them to use my story in their advertising.
That made my day. I am pretty excited to see what they use my story for, and they have asked me if I have pictures (so Michelle, if you were smart enough to get some, can you send them my way???). I made this book as a way to remember my Grandpa and have a wonderful book for my children to learn about him and who he was and the life that he lead. If, by using my story on why I created my Grandpa's book, other people can be inspired and use it to preserve their memories then I will have accomplished way more than what I set out to do when I created this book of my Grandpa. I will see if I can post an electronic of the book on this page. . . we'll see. . . I'm not making any promises. . . I'm not that technologically inclined.
Anyways, that made my day. Maybe its Grandpa's spirit coming back to me to brighten my day again. . . I never could stay grumpy for long when that guy was around!
(P.S. I did it!!! What do you think???)

For a moment . . .

For a moment time stood still. The endless lists of all of the things I needed to do were forgotten and the plans that I had made for tomorrow were put off. For a moment I was able to sit still, frozen in time in a place where the memories of the past intertwined with the hopes for the future. For a moment, I got to spend time with my grandmother who is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's and I got to relive some of the memories of her life.
For a moment, the forgetfulness that she experiences disappeared. I got to hear stories about my dad and my grandfather. I got to listen to her laugh and she talked about her grandchildren and I got to cry with her as I relived the passing of my Aunt Linda, her only daughter. For a moment I was able to see my Grandmother as a little girl laying in a bed, fighting for her life and the gratitude and the love that she felt for her step-grandmother who would stay with her whenever her mother had to go out.
For a moment I was able to see my own father as a child, walking around and causing mischief. I was able to see how much fun he had with his brothers and sister. For a moment I got to watch my Aunt Linda take care of her younger brothers and convince them to do things that she wanted them to do.
For a moment I was able to relive those fabulous Christmases spent with all of my Lee cousins acting out the nativity. For a moment I was able to chuckle at the continuous inside jokes that we had about Grandma buns and Grandpa with hair. For a moment I was able to almost smell that delicious smell that accompanied my Grandma Lee as she brought freshly baked Grandma buns to whatever family dinner we were having.
For a moment I was a child again eager for a chance to play with my Grandpa. For a moment I swear that I could hear his fabulous laugh again and listen to his hilarious jokes and stories. For a moment I could almost feel him slap me on the back and say "You did good kid."
For a moment I could hear the music that had been sung on Christmas Eves throughout many years. I could almost hear the Angel's Carol and see the tears well up in my Grandpa's eyes. For a moment the love and the laughter that always surrounded me at family get togethers was there welcoming me with open arms.
For a moment I was able to see how much my grandparents truly loved and cherished all of their grandchildren. I was able to see pictures of almost every single one of their grandchildren being held in the special blessing blanket that my grandmother had made for them. For a moment I was able to see how my grandparents came to all of their grandchildren's special occasions from baby blessings to baptisms to priesthood ordinations and weddings.
Tears welled up in my eyes and I saw the moment that I was able to capture my Grandpa Lee cherishing my daughter Anne. For a moment I could remember him being there holding her and kissing her even though he was sick and frail.
For a moment I wanted to stay there, wrapped in my memories and sitting beside my grandmother whom I love very much. I wanted to be a child again and see my Grandpa and my family. I didn't ever want to leave.
But, alas, time is fleeting and moments do not last forever. But on this Remembrance Day I am grateful for the moments that I was able to spend today remembering.