Laying Nana to rest...

If you read my blog, you know that my Nana has been very sick. After traveling back & forth to Texas for the past two months, she finally passed away last Thursday while I was home for my cousin's college graduation.

I flew in on Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning we got the call to rush up to the hospital because it was "time". We waited & she kept right on living. Wednesday evening my cousins & I went out to celebrate Graduates last final exam & while out, we got the call that it was, again, "time." We gave our lemon drop shots away, paid the bar tab & rushed out of there arriving at the hospital suprisingly sober! We all stayed by her side until 4am. Again, she just kept on living...

Thursday morning we got the call, yet again. After a morning of praying with her, singing to her & letting her know that it was okay to go, she finally took her last breath. I had kept telling her to not worry about our agenda & to just worry about her own & she finally listened. Her final days were rough. She sounded like she was drowning & she was absolutely miserable as her lungs filled up with fluid. I prayed daily for God to take her, because she certainly didn't deserve to suffer this way.

I had happened to be in Target when she passed away. We really didn't think she was in a rush to go after the few "false" alarms. I took my cousin & sister to Target & we got the call. Graduate cousin was there, as well as the rest of my family. She said it was the most peaceful thing, ever. I did get back there & spent the next few hours with her until they took her. It was easy to see that she was finally at peace.

The next few days were whirlwind of activity & emotional outbursts. My family basically fell apart for a few days & we all took it out on each other. At one point, I packed my stuff from one aunt's house & moved it to another aunt's house because of the drama. I'm not proud of how we all handled it at first, but we all ended up uniting & getting our shit together!

The graduation was a wonderful distraction. And, we went ahead with our plans for a graduation party the following day. Nana was really big on education & a college graduation would have been one of her favorite events to celebrate.

After my cousin's graduation we had to get on with reality. We buried my Nana in her family's cemetery in Round Mountain, TX (population 111) on Monday. Nana's six granddaughters each wrote a paragraph about her that my sister & Texas Kate read at the funeral. I was still writing an hour before the service due to the worst case of writer's block I ever had! (not to mention the panic attack I had the night before while writing!) I will post mine here in the next few days.

After we buried Nana we left the Texas hill country & came back to Corpus Christi, TX... the place she had called home for the past 30 years. We had a lovely memorial service for her on Tuesday. By Wednesday, I was ready to fly home. And, luckily J was able to get me on his return fight. We arrived home at 1am last night!

It has not fully sunk in, yet, but I know the next few weeks will be rough for me. I've said it before, but my Nana was one amazing lady & she will be missed by many, but especially by me.

I sure do wish I could get kolaches in Virginia!!