Thursday, December 24, 2009

A comfortable Christmas Eve...

We made it safe and soundly to my parents house on Tuesday evening. We left Illinois later than we would have liked but Mike had a visit with the hand specialist before we could hit the road. As far as Mike's hand it is starting to heal and it will be 4-6 more weeks with the cast on before Mike is good as new. He is very anxious for this to be OVER!!

Today we had lunch with my Mom's family at my Aunt and Uncle's house. Normally we have dinner but due to some changes in the Christmas eve church services at Seville UMC we changed our time to accommodate. It was a lovely afternoon with good soup, delicious breads and lots of cookies. Both my cousin, Jessica, and my cousin Bill's wife, Ricki are pregnant. They are both due in April and it is great to see someone other than myself adding kiddos to the family! My grandfather makes the kids a wooden toy each year and this year was some of the best. I'll have to post pictures. They are priceless toys that we will cherish forever. Very, very special.

We went to church at 6:30 in the same church where Mike has gone his whole life, I have gone since I was 10, where we were married almost 12 years ago and where all 3 of our children were baptized. That is where I think of when I think of home. A very comfortable place for me. In a long story I got separated with Amanda from sitting with our family. I was sitting in the over flow room with Amanda and our friend, Earleen, who has celebrated Christmas with our family every year since 1981. Earleen commented that the hymnal she had must not have been used very much because the binding seemed tight. I was surprised to hear her say that as the hymnals in our church are at least 20 years old so I took it from her and flipped it to the front to read the placard in the front. That tells you who the hymnal has been left in memory of or if it is honor of someone special. Much to my surprise when I flipped it open it read

"This hymnal has been dedicated to the Memory of Eva McMurray."

That is my grandmother. She died in 2006 and the church memorial committee had purchased some new hymnals to replace some of the ones that were getting really used. I could have sat any where in the sanctuary but some how I picked exactly the seat where I think I was suppose to be. I miss my Grandma very much but her presence is every where in my life, even on Christmas Eve.

3 comments:

  1. Wow, great stuff! Jessica's old enough to get pregnant?! Your Grandpa still makes wooden toys?! The same church that I got married in too?! Earlene?! And best of all, you Grandma let you know she was with you too!
    Merry Christmas!!!

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  2. What a wonderful feeling you must have had. I think about her a lot and miss her very much!

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  3. Sometimes it takes someone with a better perspective, like from hundreds of miles away, to point out what is right in front of you all the time. Thanks for being my eyes. Although these eyes are a little damp now.

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