My Little Girl Is Learning to Drive

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3: 5 and 6

The days are passing. I have been in touch with the Hague Unit in Missouri and they tell me that they received our I800A on 06/10/08 and are currently working on documents received on 05/21/08. No priority can be given to our family even though the CCAA has given us until 07/17/08 to submit our dossier. My agency is requesting an extension from the CCAA on our dossier submisson. The heat wave that hit us with a venegance is over due to a very bad hail storm on Monday. I am including a picture that Mandy took. The ice you see was hanging around 5 hours after the storm. Road crews were scrapping ice off of route 33 after the storm. It was 59 degrees at 8:30 a.m. this morning. I am sure that the relief is short lived so we spent most of today outdoors enjoying the low humidty and cool temperatures.

Attached are several recent pictures of Abigail. She is a little young to be driving but you never know....... The picture in the white dress was just too cute not to share. We are so bless to know that she is in a wonderful place and receiving excellent care. It makes the wait to bring her home more bearable.

Our family continues to mourn the loss of our dear mother but are comforted in knowing that she is with Jesus.

In Memory of My Mother

"Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Proverbs 31:28

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

My mother, Patricia "Pat" Ann Hall was born on February 9, 1943. She was the 8th child born to my grandparents. There was a total of 9 children. As of her death on June 2, 2008, she is survived by 2 sisters and 2 brothers. I watched my mother take care of both of her parents until they died. Even though she had a large family, she, alone, took care of her parents. She did this while babysitting my sister's two children full-time. My mother was a care giver by nature. She took care of everyone. I have several cousins who think of my mother as their mom and loved her more than the mother that gave birth to them.

She was ALWAYS there for our family no matter what the need. My first two children were not extremely close to her growing up because their paternal grandmother babysat them while I worked. However, as adults they became closer to her and both loved and respected her very much. I had a wonderful relationship with my mother. We did not argue even in the teenage years.

Shane grew to love his grandmother as she was his care giver for the days I worked. My mother made great sacrifices to take care of our children. She was so unselfish. I don't know how to fully make Shane understand that she is gone. He will tell you that she is in Heaven with Jesus but I am not sure if he understands.

Church family and friends rallied around us this past week and provided us love, support and mostly importantly, their prayers. My mother's memory was honored in a great way by the outpouring of love and the people that attended her wake and funeral. Pastor Lamb preached a wonderful funeral and it honored God greatly.

John Anthony, Faron, Aunt Chris, and others have returned to their homes in Idaho, Maryland and Texas. Tomorrow, life will resume as "normal" for most people. It will never by "normal" for me, my father and my siblings and our children, as we will have to spend the rest of our life on earth without her. The beautiful quilts, pillowcases and other items that she sewed will be with us forever. I regret that she didn't have the opportunity to make Abigail a quilt/blanket as Shane has several that she made him and as do my older boys.

Our family takes comfort in knowing that we will see her again one day in Heaven. We know that the Lord will give us the comfort and the courage that we need to face the coming days, months and years.

One of the Saddest Days of My Life

"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart....." Psalm 34:18

"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." John 14:18

June 2, 2008 started out like many days. It was one of my scheduled days to work so I took Shane to Sharon's house. He was asleep as usual so I put him in the bed with Kelsey and chatted with mom for a few minutes. As usual, my mother chatted with me up until the time we were walking out the door. She called and left a message around 10:00 a.m. letting me know that her doctor's appointment that was scheduled for that day was actually for Tuesday. I called her back and spoke briefly with her to confirm that I would be off work the following day so she would be able to go to her appointment without taking Shane and Nicholas or leaving them with Susie. I had no idea that this would be the last conversation that I would have with my mother.

Around 1:00 p.m, Sharon came to my office to tell me that Susie had called and that mom was having an asthma attack and the rescue squad had been called. Mom has had asthma for years and never had to be rushed to the hospital before so I figured it would a trip in to the ER to get her breathing regulated and we would bring her home that evening.

Oh, how wrong I was. By 1:45 p.m., Jeremy called to tell me to come on home as Sharon and I were waiting at the hospital to be at the ER when she arrived. I knew what he was telling me and my heart broke. A colleague from work was kind enough to drive us home. My mother, Patricia "Pat" Hall, at the age of 65, went home to be with the Lord yesterday.

If I had only known what the day would bring, I would have stopped and spent more time chatting with her. I would have told her how much I loved and appreciated her. I don't know how to live my life without my mother as she has always been there for me and my children. I have to trust in the Lord as I know in His strength, I will get through this and learn to live the rest of my life on this earth without my mother. I have to rejoice in the fact that I will see her one day again in Heaven.