In Silence

Yesterday Hugh had the day off, and we spent a nice day together as a family. I was barely awake and he already had the children dressed and they were out the door. It was so nice to have almost an hour alone in the house. I got a 30 minute workout in on my elliptical, and then spent the rest of the hour in my quiet time. I'm almost finished with a great book that one of my bloggy friends, Sandra sent me. (~Thanks Sandra!) I can't wait to share it with you!

Hugh surprised me with breakfast and then we took the kids swimming. We are really enjoying our new pool. I think the kids are about to grow fins with all the swimming we've been doing. It's actually been the best part of our summer. After our swim, we decided to drive down to Grenada to see Granny, or Grammy, as our children have affectionately named her. This is a picture of Granny and Hugh, when he graduated from med school.


Isn't she beautiful? She is such a sweetheart. She is in a nursing home now, and we know it won't be long before she goes home to be with the Lord. We are trying to spend as much time as we can with her. A few weeks ago, Demetria, Kevin, Kaden and Russ came to spend the weekend with us, and it just so happened to fall on Granny's birthday. So we took some flowers and sang her Happy Birthday. I'm so glad we got to do that together.

Yesterday, we were there for a while before she recognized us and knew we were there. Hugh found a hymnal and I held her hand and sang to her for a while. Mrs. Donna, Hugh's mom had told me that singing songs from her childhood helped to trigger her memory. She would close her eyes every once in a while, so I thought she was drifting off to sleep. I had the sweetest moment with her as I was singing How Great Thou Art. Her eyes were still closed, but she lifted one of her hands to heaven and said, "How sweet it is. How sweet it is." I can't tell you how much that blessed me. When she opened her eyes, she looked right at Hugh and said, "Well, hi there!" as if we had just arrived. It worked.

Ms. Donna arrived a few minutes later with Trey and Anna Grace in tow. She had taken them to Walmart. She had Hugh help her set up a stereo in Granny's room, so she could listen to praise music throughout the day. She also asked the lady whom sits with Granny to read scripture to her everyday to keep her calm and her spirits lifted. While we were there, Anna Grace came over and gave her Grammy a kiss, and Trey held her hand and sang her favorite song, You Are My Sunshine. We were going to put on her music and quietly slip out, but granny asked me to keep singing to her. Again, what a blessing I received.

Ms. Donna came over to my side of the bed and started singing softy along with me. I was fine until she reached out and held mine and Granny's hand. I just got choked up. After a moment, I was able to regain my composure and finish singing with her. We left shortly there after because they brought Granny's dinner down and we could tell she was tired. Ms. Donna took Trey and Anna Grace and slipped out a few minutes before us.

When we were leaving, Hugh looked at me and reached out his hand to take mine. Neither of us said a word. We didn't have to. We had one of those moments I cherish in marriage where so much is said without a word spoken. We know each other so well that we know what the other is thinking and feeling, and so much can pass between us in the silence. It is so nice to be known, to be understood. What a blessing it is to be married to your best friend.