On Thursday, January 24, 2008 we (Larry and Tobey) were spending the afternoon and early evening with Mom at Heartland.  She was in such good spirits, laughed a little, complained a little, wouldn’t tell us when she was hurting even though we could tell that her shoulder was causing her great pain (still heart related), ate some food, drank a little chicken broth and talked for several hours. 

Mom has such a sharp mind, a great spirit and a weakened body.  Mom didn’t want to sleep while we were there from 12:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.  She dozed off for about ½ hr and then apologized for it.As we were kissing her goodbye, I told her we would return in two days.  Without batting an eye, Mom said, “just like a bad penny.”  We had a good laugh together.

On Saturday, January 26^th, Dawn, Larry and I went to Mom’s apartment at PrimRose and began the tedious task of clearing out her apartment.  It  was strenuous and sad to say the least.  When we broke up her home and sold it (because she was not able to stay alone anymore and she wanted a small apartment in an assisted living place), we knew that she was going to another place to live.  Today we knew that this time she wasn’t coming back to her apartment or to our homes.  Both of us live in mobile homes and have health issues, to take Mom, who needs skilled nursing, wouldn’t be in the  best interest of her or us. 

Throughout the afternoon, she talked about family, hers and dad’s, from the older times, explaining which cousins go with which family, etc.

Sometime late Saturday afternoon, Mom turned to Larry and told him that it sure was awful getting old, not being able to get out of bed and being in such pain.  Larry said that we all will be her age someday.  Mom told him that no one should have to suffer like she was doing.  She made the statement that she hoped she was going home to Jesus for she had not been able to read her Bible lately. Larry replied that Jesus understood.  He knew what was going on with her body and He understood.  He shared that we all knew she had accepted Jesus Christ as her Personal Lord and Savior and that Jesus was waiting on her to come home.  He told Mom that Dad was standing beside Jesus waiting on her.  Her reply, “well, I bet he tells me what took you so long.”  We had to laugh at her humor for she was grinning ear to ear.As we were kissing her goodbye, she reached out her hand and held ours.  As Larry and I stood at the bottom of the bed, she looked at us with such love in her eyes and said, “I love you both very much.Respectfully submitted,

Tobey Anne Crafthttp://www.tobeyscandles.com