All around me...

Death seems to be everywhere lately.... a friend's mother and two of Brad's co-worker's husbands died just in the last month. One of our goldfish died last night. That may seem like no big deal, but we had her a year and a half. She is the first pet that Olivia has lost. We mourned at our house this morning. Maybe it is affecting me more because of my mom. My Mama died a little over a month ago now. Am I doing better? I guess. Not really. Sometimes. That's how I feel. One minute, I am fine and in an instant, I fall to pieces.

A friend of mine lost her mother a few weeks ago. They received friends one month exactly to the day that my Mama died. It was so hard to go to the funeral home, but I went. It helps the grieving when their friends come. I know this from personal experience. Just seeing someone make the effort to come and hug you means the world to you. To take the time from your busy schedule and acknowledge that their world has stopped and will never be the same again will make a lasting impression on your grieving friend. They'll think on it days and weeks and months and it will comfort them. You don't have to say the "right words". Just go. Hug your friend. They'll know what you're saying.

This is the day....

I know I am a blessed woman. That's why I titled my blog "Diary of a Blessed Woman". Sometimes, even in the midst of my grief, I feel like my cup is running over.

Olivia did a very precious thing the other week. We were on the way to the shrimp boil the day before Tammy's wedding and Brad and I were talking about Mother's Day and what a gift it was that we had that great day with Mama. I started crying and Olivia said, "Mama, maybe a song will help you feel better". So...she started singing, "this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it....". So, that's what I did that day. I rejoiced with our friend Tammy. And....the next day...I rejoiced again at her wedding.

There is something to rejoice in everday.....my little girls, my husband, my friends, my family. There is so much to be thankful for. I am richly blessed.