Well, I hope 2011 is shaping up to be as great a year for you and yours as it has been for me and mine. First off, Christmas was wonderful. We had a wonderful celebration with my Hubby’s family on the 18th. We had our annual goofy gift party and exchanged gifts with my inlaws and celebrated my niece graduating from college. What a wonderful way to start our holidays. Then on Christmas day, we celebrated with my mom and the kids and had a wonderful day.
New Years was fairly uneventful, since it was raining, Hubby and I had dinner and then came home. We’d planned on seeing a movie, but the rain was really coming down and neither of us wanted to drive in it to town to see the movie, so we came home and had quality together time.
For two years now, my sister-in-law has been on the liver transplant list, and we have prayed for God’s healing. She has taught me so much about living life in those two years. When every day may be your last, you learn to get as much living into each day as you can and that is what she has done. When #1 graduated, I told her to not worry about coming if she didn’t feel like the two hour drive. She was there as she says “with bells on.” She saw her second grandbaby born last January “with bells on.” But by spring this year, she was really wearing down. You could tell she and her bells had seen better days. When #2′s graduation rolled around, I called her and told her we’d understand if she didn’t come. We loved her and didn’t want her to make herself sick. She told me, “I’ll be there with my bells on.” And she was. By July, our family left for a mission trip. My brother-in-law was on one as well, when the call came in, she’d been moved to #2 on the list. I told our pastor I might have to leave before the mission trip was up, but by the end of the week, she was back to #12. It was a huge disappointment. In August, Hubby and I celebrated 25 years of marriage. And again, she was there “with bells on.” By our Thanksgiving family get together, she wasn’t allowed to travel. She was #1 on the transplant list and the doctor wanted her close to home. We went to her “with bells on.” My other sister-in-law told us not to try to come to the graduation, but rather come straight to her house for the celebration and Christmas gathering. We did. But not my sweet sister-in-law. She was not going to miss the graduation of the first grandchild to graduate from college. She was there “with her bells on.” But you could tell the day had taken it’s toll by the time we said our goodbyes. Even I was exhausted the next day.
On Monday, my brother-in-law called. The call had come in. Her liver may be available if it was a match and if it were viable. He’d let me know when the surgery time would be. We waited all day. Surgery wasn’t until 3:30 that afternoon. It started at 4:30. It was over at 10:30 pm.
We got to see her in her room shortly before 11 pm. She was awake and in pain, but recognized all of us. She is greatly improving every day. God has blessed our family this year already beyond measure.
I learned a lot about living life the last two years from my beautiful Sister-in-law. I learned life is for living. Don’t miss out on a second of it. Don’t waste it staring at TVs or surfing the internet. Use your time wisely to spend it with the ones you love. And when you do, show up “with bells on.”
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