Life - and death - lessons
Late May ushered in a new season for us as a family. We were about our spring activities: yard work, taking out our summer clothes, Leesie finishing up her school semester. Then the unexpected happened--my father-in-law Tom suffered a massive heart attack, then passed away a week later. Wow. People go through this kind of thing everywhere, but it's stunning when it happens in your own family. We had no warning with Tom; we'd been in church together that morning, everything perfectly normal, and that night he was in ICU in a coma. He never awoke to say goodbye to his family. These ensuing weeks have been filled with the business of wrapping up a life. Paperwork, phone calls, visits, obituaries, funeral and memorial arrangements, and cleaning out personal belongings have filled our days. The harder part has been to support my mother-in-law--help her redefine life after 62 years of marriage to her deeply loved sweetheart. She's had significant health issues that hav