Well, Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is upon us.
Our trip to Lufkin/Nacogdoches was a good one. Grant was able to get off work early so we headed out about 2:00. Got stuck in traffic in Madisonville but we were able to make a quick pit stop at our beloved Buc-ees. LOVE this place. For those of you who haven't heard of Buc-ees, the best way to explain it is, it's a gas station on CRACK! There's soooo much stuff and always sooo many people. It's very nice, the bathrooms are super clean which is a must for me. There are friendly people everywhere you turn handing out samples. Their claim to fame is "Beaver Nuggets". Yep, it's sounds nasty. We've been stopping there for over a year and I still don't know what a beaver nugget is. Apparently they're awesome. Maybe I'll be adventurous on our trip home for Christmas and grab a bag of nuggets. We'll see.
Our first stop was Lufkin to drop off pies at my sister, Michelle's, house. Then I decided I wanted to go by the cemetery to visit Laura's grave. There are two different schools of thought on visiting graves. #1-It's just a body, my loved one is not here and #2-I get peace from visiting. I've had several loved ones pass away in my life. I don't visit the cemeteries regularly but when the memories of them are heavy on my heart, it's nice to go to the cemetery where it's quiet, peaceful. Driving to the cemetery I began to get that nervous feeling in my stomach and felt like it was getting hard to breathe. This would be the first time I'd been to the cemetery since Laura's funeral in September. As we pulled up I could see the pretty cross from the nephews. Michelle has done a good job about keeping nice flowers on it. The boys didn't go to the funeral with us so naturally Jess had questions. Grant did a great job of explaining it to him. Jess asked if the cemetery was where people went when they died. Grant explained that when you died your body was left after your spirit went to heaven to be with Jesus and that this place was where we remembered the people. Jess said softly, "Ooohhh". Then quickly said "Okay, let's go walk over here." He got his explanation, he understood and now it was time to explore. Of course, by this time, the emotion of seeing my sister's grave had gotten to me and I was crying. At first I didn't want the boys to see me upset but then I realized this is a part of life. They will lose people they love and they will be sad. I wanted them to know it's okay. As Grant and Jess began to explore the wonders of the cemetery, my sweet, tenderhearted Jon stood by my side and held me up as I cried. Thinking about his compassion, even now, causes me to tear up. He's got his momma's sensitive soul and I wouldn't want it any other way.
The next few days were filled with laughter and lots of food. It was great to be with my mom, Aunt Barcie and Michelle. Good to be with family, especially during a time that could have been horribly sad.
On Saturday, we had our final Thanksgiving (it was the 4th of the season for me). Uncle Jess and Linda were able to make the trip to Nacogdoches despite Uncle Jess's crushed vertebrae and Linda's soreness from a recent fall. Seeing the "Old Man" always makes me happy. It seems like I'm always the last person to hug hello. The exchange between us always goes like this: I stand back and wait for everyone to get their hugs in and when the last person moves aside he sees me, points a finger at me and smiles so big. It warms my heart. Then I go in for my hug and he ALWAYS says "Ohhhhh, I love you! You are so beautiful!" It's the best thing next to the hugs I get from my babies. We sit down and begin our meal and he always goes on and on about how good everything is. Eventually his thoughts turn to his time the POW camp in Germany during WWII. He talks about how grateful he is for all the food we have today and remembers when he'd go for days with nothing. This year, he went a little deeper with his thoughts and told us he remembers a time when he'd kill for something to eat. You can see his mind go back to those times, see the struggle, see the thankfulness for today.
So, I am very thankful for the time I was able to spend with all of my family. Christmas is only a few weeks away so we'll get to do it all over again!
