Down on the farm

On Wednesday around 2:00 my sister arrived for a fun week with the kids. At 5:00 my mom called to say that my grandfather was out of surgery and the news was not good. He has colon cancer and it has spread to his liver, kidneys, spine and part of his legs. Shannon and I talked about our options, called our husbands at work and talked with them. Chris' parents would watch our kids, Brian would take off work for two days and watch Eila and Josiah. Thaddeaus would come with us. So at 9:00pm, we loaded up two vehicles up and drove to Michigan. We arrived at Shannon's around 2:00am and Elliana was still awake! We needed to leave for the airport at 6 so Shannon and I had a short night. Chris' parents were able to pick up Elliana and Andy in the morning from Brian.

My mom, Shannon (and Thadd), and I made it on the flight (we flew standby) and met up with my aunt in Omaha. Amber, my younger sister, was going to be flying in a few hours, but a security breech at LAX did not allow that. Through an act of God, Amber was able to be rerouted to Kearney, where my grandparents live. So we drove the three hours to Kearney and were able to pick her up a few miles from the hospital.

My grandfather was happy and surprised to see us. We spent the next couple of days with him. We talked about memories of the farm and his favorite things. We shared our favorite verses and he tried to remember his. He is a quiet man so we did a lot of just sitting together. Shannon, Amber, and I have said many times how thankful we were that we were able to come. My grandma was so thankful too. She is handling everything so well, she is an amazing women!

Getting home was going to be a challenge. Brian could not take off more work and they did not have anyone available to help. We needed to be home before Monday morning. Bill, my step dad, said there were two open seats on a flight Saturday morning. It would make our trip short, but Amber had to fly out then and needed to get to Omaha anyways. However, by Friday night, the flights were all oversold and the next opening would be Monday night. So we looked at driving but the cost for one way rental was very expensive. My mom checked about flying into Cincinnati instead of Detroit. The Cincinnati flight left an hour after Amber's and had 37 open seats! Chris picked up us and drove us to Detroit. It was a little weird being so close to home and not stopping. After dropping off Shannon and Thaddeus, we made it to Chris' parents around 11:00pm. Elliana was still awake, again. She was excited to see us. After a night of rest, we all drove back to Ohio and here will will stay, for a few weeks aways.

There is oblivious more to the story, but that is long enough. My grandpa was given up to 6 months or just a few days. We were able to take some pictures which is a huge deal because my grandpa hates pictures! I will try to post them, but they are on Shannon's camera so it may take a few days. My mom has to leave on Tuesday and my aunt on Thursday. Pray for my grandma as she will be caring for him without her daughters.