Marylou Epperson.... what an incredible person. She was so sweet, but also knew how to speak her mind. She had a really great sense of humor. In the short time I have known her.... she has definitely made an impression on me. Mike and his family are very lucky to have had such a great person in their lives. She will be missed.
Yesterday started out like any other Thanksgiving... in the kitchen baking. I spent the morning making rolls.... then we headed over to Linda's for my family's Thanksgiving at 1. We had the Turkey, the cheeseball, and all the fixings. As odd as it sounds.... we even had a rubber ducky fight. Shelley had done a game where she had all these Thanksgiving themed rubber duckies on the table. They each had a number. She then drew numbers to see who would get a prize. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun afterwards chucking rubber duckies at each other. We also wandered over to Walmart at one point and finally bought the actual Christmas tree we are using for the Festival of trees. It was fun.
So at about 3... Mike and I headed home to grab the goodies we were taking to his family's Thanksgiving at 4. Well we got a call shortly after we got home saying Mikes Grandma was not in good shape, and they didn't think she was going to last the hour. So we went to the Care Facility she was at. The family was all gathered around her when she passed.
It was really hard. I have never watched someone take their last breath. There were a lot of tears... but we all knew that she was going to be reunited with her husband (who passed away 23 yrs ago on Halloween), daughter, and countless others. It was still hard none the less. After she passed, we all decided to go and still have Thanksgiving dinner at Mike's parents house. It was a nice dinner.... but it had that underlying sadness to it. After the incident with the flames shooting out of the oven (the marshmallows on the yams caught on fire), we sat down to ate and said the Serenity Prayer. I didn't know that prayer, but it was a nice prayer. We then watched family videos from the 40's-60's. It was neat seeing her as a young mother.
Something that blows my mind is when we were at the Care Center, Mikes mom asked me how I was doing. She was concerned about me since it has only been a year since losing my mom. I didn't expect her to be so worried about me when it was them that were getting hit the hardest with losing their mother/grandmother. That's when I lost it. Heather gave me a hug and told me that the other day she went to the cemetery and stopped by my moms grave. That honestly means the world to me that she took the time to stop and visit my mom. Mikes family were incredible last year with their concern for me. I honestly have the best in-laws ever! I love that they have really accepted me into their family.
My heart goes out to them all. It is not easy losing someone. I plan on being there for anything they need. They are my family and I really do feel like part of the family. So I will be a shoulder to cry on, as well as I know Mike is still going to be a shoulder for me to cry on. I guess in a sense I am still rather fragile right now. It honestly brings all the memories of losing my mom back up to the surface. I know we will all make it through this, and Marylou will never be forgotten.
It's hard to tell, but there is a nutcracker on the top of the tree. The M&M on the chair is reading "The Night Before Christmas", and the green M&M is standing on a ladder putting an ornament on the tree. So yeah... there it is!
