What a week....

At the beginning of the week Derek's Great Grandma Mimi passed away. She didn't like being called grandma but she was one incredible lady. The last time I was able to spend time with her was when we were getting ready for Mom's wedding and we were making the party favors. It was an assembly line. She filled I wrapped and Dottie tied. I had so much fun. She was an incredible woman and I'm just sorry that I didn't get the chance to have lunch with her where she lived. Derek and I told her we would and we didn't. We just live too far away or weren't down there long enough to be able to visit. And then you have the whole rule "no semi-trucks allowed" I could go on but I dig into the real reason at the end of my blog.
At 1:45am I got a phone call from Derek and he told me that Grandma Juanita passed away. She was the type of woman who always looked fabulous. She would grab your hand when talking to you and you never saw her without her lipstick. Her smile went for miles and you could feel it before you even walked into the room. She let me into her heart and into her family. She is the one who gave permission for Derek and I to get married. She would tell me stories of all her husbands and how she missed all of them. She would point to pictures on the wall and tell me who they were. She has family pictures all over her walls.

This week is a rough one to say the least. I can't imagine what Derek's Mom, Grandma Dottie, sister and Tom are going through right now. I was only graced with knowing them for such a short period of time and I feel like such a great loss has hit our house, and it has. They've known them their whole lives and to not have them anymore is the same as not having my mom.

I think that our society moves too fast and doesn't take time to stop and make time for family. Life isn't always easy. It's not handed to us and we can't always expect things to be a cake walk. We need to work for what we want and we also need to stop and smell the roses. We need to spend quality time with loved ones and enjoy what God has given us. We are not going to be around forever. We need to make the most of the time we have today.

Stop running the "Rat Race"! Stop Chasing your tail. Start walking and skip once in a while. Give an extra hug, just because. Call a friend or loved one just to say Hi! Not just on the holidays.... Make time for them and in the long run you are making time for yourself. Only then are you truly living.....