it's the day we've been waiting for

Hope sustains us through despair. Hope teaches that there is reason to rejoice even when all seems dark around us.

With Jeremiah I proclaim, “Blessed is the man … whose hope the Lord is.”³⁷

With Joel I testify, “The Lord [is] the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”-- Dieter F. Uchdorf 

^{Thankfully, after a rough start to the evening, Mom fell asleep and has slept for a while. Yesterday, we all hung out at the house, taking turns laying by her and talking to her. It was interesting to see how things gradually progress as she starts displaying more and more signs of being released from this life. Dad had to go to the store to get milk and other essentials, leaving me to sit at the bedside and hold my mom's hand. On one of the walls of their room is a large collage picture frame that I put together for Mother's Day with pictures of all seven of us as babies with Mom along with other pictures of us as kids. As I stroked my mom's hand and looked at the pictures, I couldn't help but let rise to my extreme hatred for cancer and how it decimates a person until they are almost unrecognizable. My main task yesterday, other than regulating pain meds, was to write the first draft of the obituary. Wow. What a difficult task!}

 ^{I enlisted the help of my 19 year old sister and we attempted to sum of Mom's life in a few paragraphs. There really isn't anyway to put into words what your mother has meant to  you. I reread comments people have been making and sending in an attempt to capture what my mom has meant to everyone she's known. I'm beginning to think that this is one piece of writing that will never have a final draft-- merely drafts that are deemed "good enough" for now.} 

The influence people have on our lives really is never ending and there will never be a "final draft" on how we are affected by them. Every time we choose a patient reaction or make a choice based on examples we've seen, we stamp "draft" on another day of their influence.

It's looking like today might be the day Mom is set free. Dad is with her and eventually, we'll gather everyone else to bid her farewell until we meet again.