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Linus and his Gam watching the world
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Look out about you, what do you see. You see the world, you see people and animals, you see places and things...you see life! Life - its here, its happening, its us. Over the last two months (more than actually) our little family, and extended family, has seen its fair share of life. Some of it was expected, some very much not...but, alas, it is life and every moment we are learning to cope with it as it comes to us.
In May, on the rainy 21st day, we went to St. Mary's Medical Center in Walla Walla to welcome our newest addition. At 11:23am, we welcomed Wyatt Ramsey Wyrembelski into this world and into every fiber of our being.
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| Look close, you can see his head clasped in the doctor's hands |
Unlike Linus, he didn't come out screaming and crying. He let out a little wimper here or there, that's it. From behind the c-section curtain I could see nothing. I had not seen him arrive and they had already whisked him to the warmer table...something wasn't right. For what seemed like endless minutes I could only here nurses saying "Come on little guy" and every once in a while the faint wimper. To my side, from the black screen of an unplugged monitor I saw the table. My little baby was being given oxygen, he wasn't breathing. But in a flicker of a moment, the fear of something being wrong was wiped clean as he exhaled into a wail. Oh glory be, did we love to hear those lungs work!
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| A couple hours old |
I couldn't wait to hold my new little boy. I couldn't wait to introduce Linus to him. And most of all, I couldn't wait to start our journey together as a family! (Linus was way more excited about his new brother than we ever could have imagined!)
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In the next weeks, we had visits from friends and even family. We grew to know our little Sugsie Beans. We found ourselves to be a newly born family of four and we had so much fun. (Okay, I admit, there were a few times of unfun.)
Things were moving forward brightly. But less than a month later, my grandmother, Gam as we call her, suffered a major sickness and was in ICU. She was very sick, but somehow...truly miraculously...she survived. She got better. She had a few setbacks, but kept rallying back to move forward. Her tenacity will always amaze me!
But today, due to a fluke happenstance, she passed away in the early morning hours. She had family by her side and she suffered no pain as she left this mortal land. And I can only look toward the heavens and wonder what she is seeing now.
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| Holding her oldest great grandson, Alexander Campbell, in 2005 |
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| Holding her second great grandson, Linus Wyrembelski, in 2009 |
What can I even say about my grandmother to do justice to her name and her life. I can't say enough to express her magnificence and how much she touched my heart and soul. The whole day has passed like a dream, wondering in and out of the reality of her passing. Remembering so many special moments with her. Reading Babar and Barbapapa books in the bed in the upstairs of her house. Munching m&ms in her living room. Running through her basement. I remember taking trips with her, just the drive or flight would be so wonderful to me. I remember her hugs and her smell...her smile and voice...her soft touch as she helped me to bed. My heart aches and my soul trembles in the wake of her loss. I can not bear to think of it too long.
So for now, I will just thank God for giving me more than 34 years of life with her and for blessing me with new life in my youngest son.It is all life.
