My 29Gift Journey ~ Gift 6

Is it the weekend yet? Apparently not...but thankfully just a few more days to go. Today I had a counseling session that was very draining but I have been told that I need to work through my grief of losing John. I guess my path of trying to go around it wasn't good enough. :) This pain stuff really sucks...I have cried so much I am surprised my eyes aren't completely swollen shut. Today was a hard day to focus on giving when what I really wanted to do was just go to bed.

Besides my counseling session, I also had paperwork that had to be done and errands that had to be made. Thankfully, my wonderful sister-in-law (John's older sister) came in and ran daycare for me so that I could get everything done. I am trying to come up with an amazing gift for her because her giving for me and the kids has been above and beyond the call of sisterhood. But until I figure out what that gift should be, I decided to gift her with lunch for today. While the kids were napping I ran out and picked us up some burgers and fries and we enjoyed a wonderful chat about nothing and everything.

My receive for today was tied into that because it is an incredible gift to have someone I trust to come into my home and fill in for my daycare business. My days are pretty much tied up here with all the kids but sometimes there is no way around it and I have business that needs to be taken care of during my business hours and my SIL is always kind enough to help out. Things were pretty crazy here when John got sick and even more so when he passed away, she was here round the clock doing everything and anything that had to be done. She is a retired school teacher, never married, no children of her own, and almost 10 years ago she lost her very best friend to cancer. She was determined to not lose her only brother (John was the only boy of 5 children) to that horrible disease.

She was there for tests and doctor visits with a pencil and notebook in hand writing everything down that I mentally couldn't take in. She was reassuring that I could do what needed to be done and that she would be my assistant for whatever I needed help with. She showed me how to hook up John's oxygen tanks when he came home from the hospital and knew what to give him to eat when he didn't even know what it was that he could eat without getting sick. When he passed away she was there for me, never crossing the line to make me feel as if she were taking over, but right behind me giving me the support and helping hand that only someone who has been down that road before can do. We were up an entire night laughing and crying as we wrote John's obituary, and whenever I didn't think I could go anymore she was always there to encourage me that I could do it.

And in the end, when everyone else had gone back to their normal every day lives....she was still there. We were friends before but now she is more than just a friend, more than just a sister-in-law or even a sister... she will always have a special place in my heart that can't be described in words...but someday I hope to be able to express to her how much she means to me.