My Mom and I

I love this picture. Anne took it at Jason and Jess's wedding and I received it as a gift. I in turn gave it to my Mom as a Christmas gift, which as you can imagine, she loved.

Cathie, the kids and I came down to see my Mom today. I'm staying here at the house with my parents for the next few days, working in between spending time with my family. Jon, Beth and Libby are here from Memphis as well. We've been spending time with my Mom, hanging out, reminiscing about our family growing up, trying to soak up our time with her. She's spending even more time sleeping, but she's still aware of what's going on around her. I hate to see her like this, but I love the time with her. I was sitting next to her today as she was sleeping and a wave of saddness overtook me. My Mom grabbed my hand, looked into my eyes and told me how proud she is of me, how special I am to her and how much she loves me. I love this time with her and I'm trying to seal every moment in my heart. One of the toughest things for me today as a Dad was to be there with Nate as he said his goodbyes to my Mom. Part of me hates to expose him to some of this. Nate has always had such a special connection with my Mom and this has been hard for him from the beginning. He' grieving through it step by step, but I hate to see him hurt like this.

Will and Monaca came by to see my Mom. She worked them over hard to get a wedding date, but no luck. My Mom would love to be at Will's wedding almost as much as Will's own Mom.

I spent some time over at my Grandma's house and sat there listening to her stories. My Grandma is almost 90 and is sharp as a fox. She was telling me stories of how my Mom first met her Dad at the train station coming back from WWII when she was 21 months old. She told me stories of how my Mom trained to be a flight attendant and of how she met and dated my Dad.