Heaven on Earth

Is this what Heaven might be like for me?  Snuggling a beloved baby, whose precious sleeping face is resting on her Grammy’s shoulder?  I sometimes think so.

Of course, I realize that this is only the sort of Heaven a mere mortal's brain would conjure up. Being in the presence of Our Lord, seeing the glorious Beatific Vision, is reportedly something so incredibly beautiful, so awesome, that it's beyond my feeble human ability to imagine it.  I hope to see it when my life on earth is over. God have mercy on my soul, let me see it!

But in the meantime, there are infinitesimal glimpses of Heaven here in this earthly life, I believe.  And mine do look like this.

By the way, these photos were taken by my daughter-in-law as we sat on the couch together while the baby’s big sister napped, re-watching “Downton Abbey” and passing that little angel back and forth.  The new mom has been very generous with that darling baby of hers, sharing her easily with me when I know how attached she must feel in this early stage of her daughter's infancy.  I have the best D-I-L's, truly I do.  I always hoped that our boys would bring us lovely young ladies to love like daughters, and did they ever. 

I saw this X or IG post recently and thought I'd share it here; it's a must-read if you are raising a son who might take a wife someday.  It's perfect advice for any Boy Mom.

You too might have a slice of Heaven here on earth, when your son marries, if you heed those wise words!

P.S. Who is that old lady holding that baby?!?!  She kind of reminds me of my Grandma!

P.P.S. Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️

Welcome, Little Pearl #23!

The last time I was here, in mid-January, we were a few days away from having our oldest son and his family (including seven of our grandchildren!) arrive from Wisconsin to spend the last week of the month visiting us (and also the three brothers’ families who live near us in VA).  Grandchild #23, our youngest son’s second daughter, was due on Feb. 8, and we were planning to head to Nashville a few days ahead of that due date to be in place to help out and take care of their almost-2-year-old.  The timing between our firstborn's visit and our trip to our baby's house was going to be close, but it looked like it was going to work out perfectly.

We had a great week with our Wisconsin Pearls, including a family get-together with four of our boys and their wives and children, minus one D-I-L and two wee grandsons.  (We resorted to Chipotle catering, because Grammy was feeling a bit daunted by the prospect of cooking for almost 30 people, while simultaneously having nine people staying with us for the week!) 

Son #1 isn't a fan of showing his kids' faces on the Internet (which I totally respect), so those are the only two photos I'll share from that visit.  But I think they tell the story of how much these cousins enjoy each other's company--and how they can make fun happen wherever they happen to be, even in our relatively small house with its relatively small yard.

Our oldest son and his gang left VA to head back home on Jan. 29, and little #23's older sister had been born about a week past her due date, via induction, so we figured no problem—it seemed safe to believe that she was probably at least a week away from making her appearance.  The timing was going to be about as close to ideal as it could be.  We would get all the beds remade and the house cleaned up, pack our bags, and be ready to start our road trip to son #5’s house within a few days’ time, arriving well before baby.  Our plans were set.

But if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans!  I woke up at 6:30 a.m. on the 30th to this text from our son (which he’d sent at about 2:30): 

“Looks like baby’s coming early.  _______ is about 5.5 cm dilated.”

Hoo boy!  We had already committed to watching son #3's youngest child that afternoon (thinking no way would our presence be needed in Nashville quite this soon!) while he and his wife were with one of their girls, who was scheduled to have an oral surgery procedure.  I texted son #5 to see if we should try to find a replacement to watch his little nephew so we could hit the road ASAP, but he assured us that his firstborn daughter was being well cared for by a beloved and trusted friend, so we could keep our plans in place and wait until the next day to make the drive.

Our sweet new granddaughter was born in the morning on Jan. 30, and bright and early on the 31st we were Nashville -bound, anxious to meet this latest gem to be added to our long and ever-lengthening string of Pearls! 

We have already been with this darling little family of four for over a week now, and we plan to stay for the baby’s Baptism after anticipated Mass on the 15th.  The next morning, we’ll head back home to VA.

It has been grand, and we are honored to have been asked to be the first on the scene to help out.

If you’re reading this, and your children are still little and gathered about you all the time in your house and sleeping safely under your roof every night, and you can’t imagine how in the world you’re going to fill your days when they’re all grown and gone…I’m here to tell you that when you make it to your "empty"-nesting years, you might find that you are even busier than you’ve ever been before.  I know that those child-rearing years of ours were incredibly busy and full, but truly, there is never a dull moment these days.  It’s different as a grandparent, of course; but it seems like it’s just about as physically and emotionally tiring as it ever was.  

And thank God for that! I can’t imagine how we got so lucky.

Okay, now for the requisite photo dump!

Our newest grandchild is a living doll, and we are so enjoying getting to know her.  Her big sister has adjusted remarkably well to having to share the limelight with a needy baby sibling.  And rest assured, she's still getting plenty of attention.

We FaceTimed with our middle son and his kids last night, and his 5-year-old daughter complained that she didn't like it when we were "out of town" (her words).  I guess she likes it much better when we're just a few towns away from her in VA and close enough to see her often, as we usually are.  How sweet it that?It's nice to be missed!  And we miss everyone back there, too.  But at the same time, it will be exceedingly difficult to say goodbye when we leave here on Sunday.  

The older I get, the more I realize that your heart can be in many places all at once.  And sometimes dividing it up so that it can do that is unspeakably painful. However, as that wise philosopher, Winnie the Pooh, said to his good friend Piglet: 

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

[Sniff]  That's enough for today, I think.  That'll do, Pig. That'll do. 

[Sigh] Yes, I've just jumped from using a WTP quote to a line from the movie "Babe."  Time to sign off before this post goes in all kinds of unplanned directions. Until next time, dear readers...

Heartache and Joy

Before I begin this post, I have a prayer request for an 18-year-old boy named Christian (the oldest son of our daughter-in-law Ginger's brother) who is battling a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer.  Doctors feel that they have done all they can for him and at this point he needs a miracle.  I know there are powerful prayer warriors who stop by here, so if you have a minute, please ask God to help Christian (he could not be more aptly named, I assure you)--ask Him to give Christian courage and peace as he carries his unspeakably heavy cross, and to heal him completely, if that is His will. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about how unfair it often seems, that some people are asked to carry such tremendously unbearable burdens in this life on earth while others--like my husband and myself--get to live a life of relative ease and comfort.  My heart goes out to everyone in Ginger's family who loves Christian and is suffering alongside him.  As grandparents ourselves, my husband and I can imagine the tremendous heartache of Ginger's parents, who are bowed down under the weight of their beloved grandson's illness while also dealing with other family crises that have arisen (because as any parent of grown children will tell you, parenthood doesn't end when your children become adults.  Not by a long shot). And it wasn't that long ago that they had another young grandson battling leukemia--which he has beaten, thank the Lord!  Why is one family asked to bear such pain and another, like ours, given so much more joy than heartache?  Ginger's parents have five children and more than 20 grandchildren, just like we do; and yet, thus far they have suffered so much more than we have.

We have been ridiculously, inordinately blessed, and I would not trade places with another living soul; but I know that those who more closely share the burden of Our Lord's Cross are much closer friends of His than we are, and I look on those people with awe and admiration.  Through such trials, great saints are made!

I'm sure you've heard the story about St. Teresa of Avila, who suffered many trials in life.  Whatever the circumstances, she would hear Jesus say to her, "This is how I treat my friends," to which she would reply, "If this is how You treat Your friends, it is no wonder You have so few!"  I love St. Teresa, her sense of humor is so endearing!  And whenever I see people going through particularly agonizing situations, I automatically think that perhaps they are especially beloved by God.  I believe that these people are Jesus's special friends.  (Christian is, I am positive.  What a beautiful faith he had developed in the year before his cancer diagnosis--almost as if God was preparing him for the coming trial he would face!)

Ginger said that a priest came to give Christian and his family some comfort recently, and he talked about how there is a cross that has been fashioned for each one of us, carved and finished uniquely for us, and that no two are exactly alike. I wish I could remember exactly how she told the story; I am not doing it justice. But the gist of it was that we are all asked to carry different crosses, depending on our own particular needs for salvation, and if one person's cross looks smoother and lighter and easier to bear than someone else's, that doesn't mean that person will get to Heaven without some form of suffering. This is the promised Valley of Tears, after all. But it will look different than the crosses others bear, for it will have been fashioned uniquely for that person, according to his needs and God's will for him.

So I know that just because my husband and I have had it relatively easy thus far, we will undoubtedly be asked to suffer at some point before we leave this life behind. That being said, I'm trying to embrace the joy of each day, without worrying about what might be ahead.  You know, like it says in Luke 12:25:  "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?"  Or in Matthew 6:34: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own." I wasted a lot of time as a young mother worrying about things than never happened.  My boys all grew up healthy and happy, and I got to watch them become men, fall in love, marry, and become fathers.  I might have taken it for granted back then, but I definitely don't anymore.  Our life over the past 44 years could have been so different, so much sadder and more painful.  But for whatever reason, that was not God's plan for us Pearls.

I dearly hope that when the time comes to suffer, that when I am asked to carry my individually fashioned cross, I will do it well.  I hope I will remember that it doesn't mean that God doesn't love me or that He's abandoned me--that it means quite the opposite, in fact. 

But for now, I will try with all my might to avoid worrying about what might come.  I’ll just enjoy every single minute of the blessed life I've been given—and a big part of doing that is hanging out with some adorable little people God has sent for me to love.  Like this sweet little animal-obsessed toddler, the youngest of our middle son's five kids, who is kind of my boyfriend these days.  (Someday I'll explain what that means, but until then, I'll let a couple of pictures from last night do the talking!)

***Please pray for Christian (and his family)!

To Blog, or Not to Blog (Oh, and Happy New Year!)

It's been more than two months since I was last here at my little site--which used to be a place I frequented quite often, believe it or not.  Back in the day, when I opened up shop in 2011, I was here almost every morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and raring to type up my little stories and random musings.  Even though almost no one was reading those posts, writing them made me so happy.

And the funny thing is that if anything, I have more to write about now than ever.  My family has grown by leaps and bounds and all of my people's lives are so very interesting, so very blog post-worthy.  But I am having the most severe case of blogger's block that I've ever experienced.  And I'm seriously considering just quitting altogether.  I've said that before at different times over the years, but this time I might actually be serious.

My husband thinks I should keep at it; he knows how much fun it is for me to have a writing project in the works, and keeping up with a blog is an ongoing writing project (that is, if you ever actually sit down at the computer and DO it!).  So I guess he might have a point.  And maybe it's not time to throw in the towel. Not just yet, anyway.

So much has happened since I last checked in, which was just after Halloween.  A trip to South Bend for a Notre Dame football game with a couple of our boys.  Multiple Pearl birthdays in October, November, and December.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas (which included having our youngest son, his very pregnant wife, and their adorable almost two-year-old little girl staying at our house.  They were with us for two whole weeks before going back to their home outside of Nashville.  Oh how I miss her--I mean them!).

Having four of our five boys and their families (15 grandchildren included!) over for a family party on the 27th was the highlight of our Christmas.  We were only missing our oldest and his gang.

I also spent the last few months before Christmas working on a special picture book project for my grandchildren, which I might share here eventually.  Oh yes, and then there's the whole learning how to make sourdough bread saga!  Let's just say that I'm a great maker and keeper of starter (I've named mine "Bubbs," although when I read somewhere that people name their starters,  I swore up and down that I wouldn't do such a nerdy thing), but I've had varying degrees of success with the actual bread itself. Especially when, like the farm wife I pretend to be, I try to use home-milled flour instead of the good old reliable store-bought all-purpose fluffy white stuff (remember this post?). Yikes, there's so much to write about, and I don't know if I should try to re-cap the past few months or just push ahead into 2025.

While I decide, know that all of our Christmas decorations are still up, because son #1 and his family (including seven of our grandchildren!) are coming next week to spend about a week with us, and since they weren't with us for the holidays I want it to feel Christmas-y around here.  (Also, the Christmas season doesn't technically end until Feb. 2, when we celebrate the Presentation of Our Lord on Candlemas Day. So we've decided that they don't come down until then!)

Happy New Year, dear readers (you know who you are: baby sister, my better half, a few D-I-L's, and about three other people!  Ha ha!).  I'll just be sitting here sipping my coffee by the tree when I've got nothing more important to do.