So Much To Be Thankful For Today

My Husband and Children...

My Wonderful Parents....

All of my Family and Friends...

But most of all?


An absolutely fantastic dinner with my parents at my brother's home. My Dad had a great day today, not too much pain or discomfort, and a ride away from the nursing center to enjoy dinner surrounded by his children and grandchildren. He even enjoyed a bit of football with my brother and husband after our dinner... what a fantastic Thanksgiving! I couldn't ask for more. I wish everyone the same blessing I was given today.

A Whole Year?

I can't believe it's been a year since I started this blog. I want to thank everyone who encouraged me, followed me and befriended me. There are MANY great people out there who have a passion for family history, genealogy and blogging! Thanks to all of you!

I am still spending time with my Dad during his illness and will remain at his side as much as I can. His family is the reason I started researching and I've enjoyed it every step of the way, as has he. But, the hobby and the blogging obviously have to be put aside right now, during this difficult time that needs to be spent with my family.

I especially want to thank everyone who's given well wishes in comments on my last post about my Dad. It means a lot to me and strengthens me that you're praying for us and sending thoughts our way. We moved him locally only three weeks ago and it's been wonderful to be able to see him everyday and spend time talking with him. It's a very difficult time to go through with a whirlwind of emotions - words cannot even describe it.

I Write This With A Very Heavy Heart

If you're a regular reader, you've probably noticed that I've not written a post in a few weeks. We received very bad news about my father the week prior to halloween... he's terminally ill and doesn't have much longer to live. My parents live about 4 hours from all of us (being my sibs and I). This is a very bad situation and we decided that it made sense to relocate him to a nursing care center closer to us. This process took almost a full week and my life has been a whirlwind ever since. Please excuse my absense while I spend this time with my Dad and the rest of the family and support my Mom through it all.

I never really thought about how this would impact me when the time came. My Dad has always been someone I looked up to, someone with strength and a very big heart. Someone who worked hard for his family and gave us values and honesty and all the things we needed - even if we didn't realize it. I'm not ready to say goodbye and it's more difficult than I ever could of imagined. I will spend every available moment with him, it's the least I can do after all he's done for me.

I wish everyone well. Thanks for reading.