Hold tight to precious moments

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So after my leave of absence I have been dealing with many things and wondering what to post about here and what not to post. So this post may be one of rambling and going in circles....hang on for the ride - here we go!!!

Last week Mr. Man's uncle passed away in Indiana. It wasn't completely a shock, but not completely expected either. Let me back up and give some background info...

His uncle had not been to our part of the country in a very long time (if ever) and so last summer made a trip out here. He wasn't able to stay with us, but stayed with my sister in law. I think the trip was really good for Uncle B. He saw mountains, elk, went to baseball games, played with kids and spent time with family -- I truly think he enjoyed himself.

The evening we spent with him he smiled or laughed nearly the whole time. It was so good to see him. Mr. Man and I hadn't seen him in about 11 years when we had gone to Indiana to visit and hung out with Uncle B. Uncle B showed us cars and fixed us food and had a good time with us! We wished we had been able to spend more time with him while he was here visiting, but that didn't work out. We so very thankful for the time we did get to be with him.

After he returned home last summer he had some medical issues, which lead to surgery in early January, which went well at first and then he spiraled down and ended up in ICU. His health got worse in ICU and last week we got a call that the doctors were giving him 24 hours to live. That evening he passed away.

We got word that the funeral would be Saturday (January 29) and Mr. Man and I went back and forth on what to do. We all go, just he and I go, just him... back and forth we went. His work schedule was crazy (still is) and since he is a funeral director it is hard for him to "just take off work" like some other jobs might allow. So driving to Indiana was out of the question due to time. Flying in to Indiana would work BUT too pricey for all of us to go. Flying could work for just Mr. Man and I to go BUT then we had to find childcare for the kids, which wasn't terribly hard except that the person wouldn't be able to get them until about 6:00 pm Friday evening which meant we would have to fly out after that. So it seemed complicated from that angle. Mr. Man really wrangled with it back and forth.

The 29th is also our wedding anniversary and I think that was hard on him to know what to do. I told him I would be fine if he wanted to just fly out for the funeral, and the kids and I could stay back. He said that that didn't feel right, to leave me on our anniversary. I said that things happen and I would be ok. He just kept saying he didn't think he should do it. He finally decided, fairly last minute, not to go to the funeral. I hope he didn't regret that decision. All of his sisters were able to be there and there were cousins he hadn't seen in a long time that were there, he ended up feeling left out of the "family reunion". But I think he appreciates the time he was able to spend with his uncle while he was here last summer that much more. 

We all need to remember to be thankful for any and all time that we are able to spend with friends and family because we never know when it will be the last time we will get to see them.

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