It's funny, when our elders said to me "getting old is not for the faint of heart," I didn't understand what they meant. Still having youth, I had tons of energy, wasn't sick had no issues really other than the struggles of daily business and family life, how could I understand?
At 58, still relatively young in the scheme of things, today I understand and appreciate those words of wisdom. In our early 40s we started losing family members. First Warren's sister-in-law in her 30s his grandmother at 87, stepfather, and his stepmother, then my mom age 67, my middle brother died at the age of 56, so so young. At that time, our lives were busy, we realized how fleeting life was. We were in the throes of our children going off to college, working a thriving business, and of course traveling. Life was good in spite of our loss and heavy hearts.
Warren's illness stopped us dead in our tracks. It made us stop and take stock of our lives. It made us kinder, more patient, more loving, more appreciative, and more grateful for all of God's blessings. We had never really stopped and takin notice, God insisted!
Through Warren's illness, in its entirety, he was always patient, quick with a smile or joke
and appreciative of me, with our family, his friends and colleagues. He was loving, a bright light, God was ever present in his soul and his demeanor. He was our example of Grace.
Speaking to a friend yesterday about their ill spouse and how frustrated and rude that person is made me reflect back on our experience. Warren's illness was so hard. Heartbreaking to watch him go through, tough to be positive and strong all of the time. his kindness and grace made my job of being his caregiver friend and wife bearable and gave me strength. Our trust in God stronger than ever.
Remember to be kind, gracious, loving, and appreciative to the one/'s that are closest to you and caring for you. We all have different strengths and different weaknesses. Don't take each other for granted. At the end of life, all we have is family. You can't take your wealth, riches or worldly things with you. They won't fit and God doesn't need them.
People will say to me "my situation is not like yours Kristina, what you did was hard". Listen everyone has a different illness and they are all hard. In my opinion, there's not a harder one than the other. Our lives are different from each other, how can you know what someone else is actually experiencing, all you have is your history, you're knowledge. It's OK to share with me, God gave me strength to get through. He gave me knowledge to share and lots of love to give.
OK, I'm done with my soapbox.
The good news: it has taken several months to get a design for Warren's gravesite approved and construction started. We expect to have the work completed in the next week to 10 days. If you would like to come by and visit his grave at any time, we welcome you, more importantly, Warren welcomes you.
Text myself, Susan, Kristinn, or Jessica for the gate code. We have ordered a monument for the site. That is the remaining missing piece.
SevenOaks is one of the most peaceful, beautiful places. Warren was so proud to have all of his family together in one place.
Love you all and have a beautiful summer!
