A Year Ago Today. . .

A lot of things have happened in the last year, good things and bad things. One of the most memorable events was having my brother hospitalized for ten days after his appendics ruptured. Those were the longest ten days of my life, as well as some of the most frightening. But a year ago today he came home. That had to have been the happiest moment of my life. All of us were expecting that he was going to have to stay hospitalized for a few more days, but Mama was able to bring him home that Saturday and we were all very excited.

For at least a week after my brother came home he was very weak, he stayed in bed all day, but it felt wonderful to know that he was home. Our house felt so empty when he was in the hospital. There are eight people in our family and when one of us isn't there you can feel the emptiness, especially when you know that the missing sibling is in the hospital. It didn't help that for the most part, the only times we saw Mama or Daddy were when they came home to rest.

But we were really blessed with wonderful friends during that time. We were provided with meals, and when we felt like we just couldn't take being at home a moment longer, there was always someone willing to pick us up and have us stay with them for a while. I would never choose to go through that time again, but there was a lot of growing and strengthening going on during that time and I have come to the point where I can be thankful for going through that.