Thoughts and memories from the past decade.....

Wow!! It's a new decade. What will the next ten years hold for my family???? Reflecting on the past first is important though. So many good things happened but far too many sad events that still bring me to tears. I'll try hard to not be too sad though.

Several great nieces and nephews were born during this decade: Riley, Ashley, William, Christian, Joshua, Cameron, and Landon. It's always a special day when a new life begins. Oh how I love to hold and cuddle newborns. I love the fresh baby smell, new baby coos, and the joy I see in the parents' eyes.


In 2001 Sarah was a freshman at high school. She was a drill team member and Jordan was a senior and a drummer in the band. We have so many memories of watching them perform. I didn't go to the football games to watch football; I went to see my kids perform.


My sweet mom had to enter a nursing home due to Alzheimer's. The sadness this brought was immeasurable. I went to work the day after she entered, but couldn't work because I could not stop crying and worrying. Her Alzheimer's was too progressed though and she had to be transferred to a nursing home with an Alzheimer's unit. She was happy and when I visited I would play "heart and soul" on the piano and mom would smile and dance. She was quite a character and the nurses and staff loved my mom.


Jordan graduated from high school in 2002. This was another emotional time for me. My first born would be leaving home and going to college in another state. We celebrated his graduation with family and friends at our house. Let me just say the hours before graduation were rather emotional, but when I got to the actual ceremony I was fine and dandy. My friends helped me get everything ready for the after graduation party. I couldn't have done it without them.


Jordan left in August 2002 to begin his freshman year at Oklahoma State University. He was a Chemical Engineering major and was very active in BCM. Between his junior and senior year, he decided to intern at Delphi and this took him to Tulsa for a year. He lived by himself for the first time. He met a special girl who would become his wife.


Sarah graduated from high school in 2005. It was another special time for our family. She was going to Texas Tech as a pre-nursing major. We celebrated with family and friends with a graduation party and once more my friends helped me prepare for the event. It was one of those sad/happy times. I remember leaving her in front of her dorm crying after having a family hug of tears. I would cry for a while on the long trip home and then stop and moments later cry once more and hubby would pat my hand.


In Dec. 06 Jordan accepted a job with Exxon. This made me happy because he wouldn't be moving to Wisconsin!! Not that Wisconsin would have been bad, it was just the thought of him being soooo very far from home. On Jordan's spring break in 2007, he looked for apts in League City and he and Kristeen looked for a puppy to adopt. He found Ellie and sent me a picture of her on my cellphone. Jordan graduated from OSU in May '07. He proposed to Kristeen a few days after graduation. He had asked for my opinion on what ring he should buy. That was pretty special!!! They planned a December wedding.


My girlfriends and I began talking girl trips. The first one was to New Braunfels in 2007. We had two nights and 3 days of lots of laughter and fun. I would laugh until my sides would ache.


Sarah was accepted into nursing school at Texas Tech Health Science Center. This made us all very happy. During college she worked as a lifeguard at the YMCA and during nursing school started working on the pediatric floor at Covenant Hospital.


Between '06 and '07 Mom's health deterioated and she passed away on Oct. 12, 2007. It was a sad sad time, but it brought peace as I felt I had lost my mom years before her actual passing. Living with a parent with Alzheimer's was the most difficult journey of my life.


On December 29, 2007 Jordan and Kristeen were married in Tulsa. It was a very special day as I watched my son see his bride for the first time. The wedding ceremony was beautiful and touching. I had a handsome son and husband, and beautiful daughter and new daughter. I reflected on how quickly this time had come. It seemed as though it hadn't been that long since we brought Jordan home from the hospital and he had played T-ball.


We had a 2nd girls' trip in June of '08 to Galveston. It was once again a great time and my sides hurt even more from laughter. We played games and I didn't like playing Sequence because it was very frustrating when I became stuck on one level.


Sarah graduated from nursing school in May '09. She accepted the job she had wanted at Children's Medical, working on the oncology/hematology floor. Another joyful family moment. Somehow we managed to pack everything in her car, our car, Bill's truck, and finally calling her friend to bring several things back home. She went on a graduation cruise and then began her job in June.


Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary early with a weeklong trip to Seattle and several nights in Olympic National Park. We also visited Port Townsend. Hubby plans wonderful vacations and I loved it all. Washington is a beautiful state and I want to go back when I go on an Alaskan cruise. (hint hint)


My dad was admitted to the hospital on July 8th, 2009. The doctor told us it didn't look good and we called family members to say their good-byes. We thought he was getting better though and we even talked to someone at a long term rehab hospital, but sadly he passed away on July 21st. Dad was 90 years old. Now hubby and I had no living parents. Our children have no grandparents.


The girls' trip this year was going to be for a whole week, but my dear friends cancelled it when my dad became ill. We had a shortened trip to Fredericksburg. We laughed until we cried once more.


Hubby and I celebrated our 30th anniversary on Aug. 18th. He surprised with a short trip to Arkansas and we had a wonderful time.


I'm missing details of many family vacations, but I know we vacationed nearly every year and our family vacations usually involved watching at least one baseball game. We are a BASEBALL family. Minor league. Major league. It didn't matter. Some of the trips we took in the past decade were to Washington D.C., Baltimore, Kansas City and St. Louis, Albuquerque, Durango, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio. We had many road trips to see the kids at college or get them settled into new living spaces.


We celebrated our family Christmas in Baton Rouge on Dec. 27th. Once more we were all together and it was great. I love my family. I look forward to the next ten years and wonder what special times the future holds.