A Busy Few Weeks

The last few weeks have been full of a lot of love, fear, joy, angst ... so basically, they've been full of life.

My kid sister was married last weekend. The wedding events were far enough away that we stayed in a hotel for the weekend. It was kind of nice to get a weekend away with my boys, bunked out in a hotel room. It was a quaint little boutique hotel, with a nice little coffee shop (which was a huge win with D.)

The rehearsal was lovely. O was the ring bearer and we made him practice multiple times. I was reading the first scripture, so determined the route I would take to get to the microphone. We had a lovely dinner and mingled a bit. Getting the boys to bed at an at least somewhat reasonable time would be critical for the next day to be successful at all.

I started my Saturday with a lovely 4-mile run in sweet little Northfield. It was a perfect day for a run, I had a decent pace and was proud of myself for pushing to do a longer distance than I've done. The last mile was spent doing intervals, but at least it was pushing myself.

The wedding was lovely ... well, except for the part where O refused to do his duties as ring bearer. My sister has great friends and I think they all did a lovely job supporting her. I did my reading ... which was so long, and I shook quite a bit on my too high heels, but D said I did fine. My sister looked absolutely amazing, her groom looked good, too.

The food was good ... D and I had to switch entrees because the dish I ordered had breading on it so I couldn't eat it. But the fish I had was good. The cake was from Nadia's (gluten-free :)) and was great. I selfishly could have asked for another slice ... but I didn't.

The boys loved getting on the dance floor. And actually competed for the attention of the little girls on the dance floor. D and I couldn't believe what we were seeing. They just wanted to make sure they were the center of attention. It was a tad bit embarrassing. They even got the DJ to play "What does the fox say?" by Ylvis. The song d'jour. But still. They loved it. In their eyes, this wedding was the ultimate party.

About an hour or so into the dance, I was resting at our table and D brought my attention to my grandpa. He said he didn't look well. I looked over, and noticed people were surrounding him. Then I noticed the right side of his face was drooping. He was having a stroke. While I know this is the last thing anyone would want to happen at their wedding, it was fortunate that my sister did get married that night and that we were all together. It meant that he was with family when the stroke happened and we could get him medical attention quickly.

The man is the strongest fighter I know. In less than a week, he's had a good recovery. He's started to say a few words, he's getting mobility back in his right arm. I went to visit him in the hospital on Thursday. It's hard to see someone you love be so frustrated due to factors outside of their own control. He wants to talk ... but he only can form a few words right now. The frustration is so very clear in his face. I want to hold him and tell him it will be okay. The man has such a strong will. I think he's keeping up the good fight for my grandma. He doesn't want to leave her alone. I just wish for him as full a recovery as possible and that all of us do a better job giving him all the love he more than deserves.

Here's to both the joys and fears of life, may each step make us better.