Cycles of Life

Today my husband's grandmother was, how should I put this, gently nudged out of the retirement home she's been living in for close to a year. It seems this little octogenarian was too hard to handle...at least she's still got spunk.

She wandered off to the local grocery store, and it wasn't that she was disoriented and couldn't find her way back, she flat-out was not going back to that place! This is not a good situation from a safety standpoint, so she is now in a facility better equipped to handle her unique brand of huff-and-puffery...for the time being. We realize that she just wants a loved one around, and circumstances are changing to make this a reality for her.

It got me thinking about some earlier posts on sowing seeds and tending to our kiddos with love and attention...but the elderly are just as fragile. Over the past few years this southern Georgia peach has gone through some funny, interesting and sad changes.

The cycle of life is precious, fragile, frustrating and tender. Just when we retire from working for forty-five years, a mother needs our constant care; after raising kids for eighteen, they decide never to leave; when a mother sends her last one to school full-time, she discovers she doesn't know what to do with her life now. The unknowns of life are exhilarating and nerve-wracking at the same time.

So tonight I'll be thankful that although my mind is frazzled and forgetful much of the time, at least I'm aware of it and know where I am. Who knows that in fifty years, I may be escaping to Fred Meyer in hopes of finding someone who loves me and someone to love.