A "full" circle weekend...

Yesterday (Saturday) we spent the day celebrating my Grandmothers life. She passed away on February 12^th, 2012. Just 6 weeks before my little girls due date.

If there is one lesson I have learned from living it is that all of us are given the ability to teach and be taught. I believe this ability is one of life’s greatest blessings but it is up to each individual to use this gift how they please.

My Grandmother has been one of the greatest teachers I have had in my life. Her and my Grandfather have been consistent pillars for our family.

The lessons she / they have taught are not ones you would find in a text book or one’s that you could even learn in school. They were lessons taught about life, love and family. These lessons were not taught directly to you… They were taught through their everyday actions and behaviors and if you chose not to be a student in their classroom; you could have quite possibly missed the lesson.

The first and most important lesson is that family is important. When I was younger it was impossible for me to truly understand how important, important is… With age, getting wiser and becoming a parent myself I get it.

Yesterday I got it even more. I felt an honor and a gratitude for being a part of this amazing family.

The second lesson… Nothing beats a home cooked meal. My Grandmother loved to cook for her family and friends. You might think on the outside it was all about the delicious food but this lesson was deeper than food; it was all about spending time together and fellowship. She just used food to lure you in J and it worked.

My Grandmother was by no means a “fancy” lady but she was class all the way. She was kind, respectful, accepting and full of love.

It is evident that her wisdom, courage and love have paved the path for many generations.

Today we celebrate the upcoming arrival of our baby girl and the one thing that will be missed the most will be my Grandmothers presence.

Comments

Making Progress

Greetings from Seattle Children's, We are happy to inform everyone that Mason is doing very well and has been moved out of ICU and over to, "the floor." This is a good sign that he is recovering on schedule and should be just a few days away from going home. He orginally had three or four I.V.'s in and is now down to one, which included the removal of the main one in his neck. Kelsey and I were looking forward to that one being removed. He still has two drainage tubes in his chest which we would like to have had out already but the Dr.'s are being cautious because he drained a little more blood than normal his first day after surgery. The plan is to have those taken out tomorrow which will make him feel even better. He is waking up on occasion but isn't quite up for smiling yet...understandably. Kelsey and I just want to hold him and make him feel better but unfortunately he seems to become more uncomfortable when we do, so we try not to be too selfi...

Welcome to HOLLAND

It was time to start collecting all of the information needed to schedule and prepare for Mason’s Fontan Surgery. So last Friday – Mason went in for his Cardiac Catheterization. (Defined below) Cardiac Catheterization (Heart Cath) is the insertation of a catheter into a chamber or Vessel of the heart. This is done for both investigational and intervention purposes. Subsets of this technique are mainly coronary catheterization, involving the catheterization of coronary arteries, and catheterization of cardiac cambers and valves. (Did you get all of that?!?!?) When we arrived at Seattle Children’s Hospital– Greg was busy checking us in and I sat with Mason in the Surgery Center waiting area. Mason and I talked, I kissed him, I played with him… I pulled out all the stops so that he would not remember that he hadn’t eaten in 12 hours and that he was at his least favorite place – Children’s Hospital. During some point of my “operation distract Mason” I noticed you staring at us from acr...

10 Years....

Mason, It is amazing how time passes by in the blink of an eye after you have kids…. It seems like just yesterday, yet this week, 10 years have passed since our life was turned upside down. The day our world took a turn we never saw coming. Each year leading up to the anniversary, I get anxious, emotional, sad, scared, and angry. I WISH 10 years later I felt differently. But I don’t. It almost feels just as raw as the day we were told…. This year. I am consciously recognizing what it is… MONDAY FEBRUARY 11 th ,2008. We sat in a room where a Doctor carefully articulated and explained to us about your special heart. There is one detail about this day I have seemed to forget in time. That is the name of the doctor who told us about our fate…. I could describe to you in details about anything else you might want to know, who was there, what we were wearing, what the Doctor himself looked like and the conversation we had. Yet his name, which used to be...

Mason Gregory Garka

Search This Blog