We'll Miss you!

Well - its been a while!

May (so far) has been a bit of a crazy month, which is nothing new for the Martin Household. It seems that all of our birthdays, anniversaries, and of course Mothers Day, fall in May so needless to say by June we are all sort of ... well ... tired of each other haha!

However, this May has been particularly full of family time and its the good kind, the supportive "there for each other" kind :)

On April 27th the littles (Karleigh and Keegan) and I packed up and ventured off to Calgary to be with Lanes mom and Gramma who was not doing so well. It was becoming very clear that Nana Frankies days were becoming few and far between and I really wanted the kids, mainly Karleigh, to be able to see her one last time and create a few more sweet memories with her Great Gramma - and that she did! She would go running into the room where Nana was staying and happily say "HIIII Nana Frankie!!" and rest her little head on Nanas hand. Nana would smile down at her and pat her head and they'd share a few quick words and then Karleigh would bound back out of the room again ... "BBYYYEEEE Nana Frankie!!" *I should also add the way that Nanas eyes lit UP when she saw Keegan come marching up to her bed. The last time she saw him he was only a few months old so certainly not walking and he definitely has more of a "Mister" personality now.

Karleigh was very aware, in a 3 year old sort of way, what was going on and that Nana wasn't feeling well and pretty soon she would be going to Heaven, and that meant that we wouldnt see her for a very long time.

We spent tuesday evening, all day Wednesday and Thursday with her before she peacefully drifted off to sleep very early on Friday morning April 30th 2010.

It was an odd thing to watch someone go through, but to witness that happening with such grace, and faith and "sureness" of where she was going, was pretty amazing. To be able to have my 3 year old and 1 year old there with me and for them to not have an ounce of fear or even question where we were or why we were there was so reassuring to me that we had done the right thing by going.

Frankies memorial was held on May 7th at her church in Dalhousie, and WHAT a turn out!! She was so loved by anyone and everyone who ever knew her and it sure showed that day. Lane and his cousin Cameron did a wonderful job of "MC'ing" the afternoon and I am sure that she was watching down upon them, partly helping them to keep it together so well and partly just in awe of all the kind words that were spoken and all of the people that were there.

Everyone was welcomed, a day or so before she passed, to email or phone or text a tribute of their own that would then be printed and posted in the bulletin at the memorial. Each and every one of them are so unique but they all have one thing in common, they all outline what a wonderful, loving and Godly woman she was. The first tribute to be sent over was from Logan, our oldest of the 4 kids. I dont know if Logan even knows this but her tribute to Nana was the only one that Frankie was actually able to hear in person. Logan texted it to Marlalee who then gave it to me and I was able to sit and read it to Nana on Wednesday the 28th.

I could go on forever but I will just end by saying that we love her and we miss her - but we are happy in our hearts that she is in such good Hands now.

xoxo