Nothing else to call the year that was 2009. It was only a few days in that I found out that the job that I loved and had worked so hard to prepare for in DeSoto was to be no more because of budget cutbacks. It was not a happy day but there was much more to come in the next few days and weeks. I turned 46 on the 12th of January and found out that my dad had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and would be having surgery at the end of the month. Praise God that he came through the surgery well despite the fact that we had an ice storm the day of the surgery. Here it is almost a year later and at 82 he is still with us. He is still going through treatments to stay the disease, but it is a struggle now to keep up his morale. It doesn't help that mom is also showing signs of memory loss. It is so hard to see your parents age. I am thankful for the years that I have had with them.
It was only a few days after dad's surgery that we lost Lindsay, my stepdaughter, David's 26 year old daughter to pneumonia,which developed from complications from the flu. This was before all of the H1n1 scare so we were shocked that something like this could actually happen. We had just had a wonderful time with her the week before celebrating a late Christmas. Neither of us understand why God took her at this time. I can't imagine the pain her mother and sister feel, but I do know the hurt that David went through at this time. A lot of painful memories were brought back in all of this from times past and it has been a struggle to get him through those emotional times. Remember to tell your children you love them every chance you get, you never know when you may not have them again.
God's mercies are new every morning and His grace truly is sufficient.
I have to say that I have been blessed with a job in a new place and although it has been difficult to adjust to a new place, new people and new curriculum. I am thankful for being there. I do believe God opened the door for me to be there. It has been a struggle to work in the classroom again. I seem to struggle everyday with what I am doing and at times I simply want to give up.
I really miss the fellowship of the really great friends I had in DeSoto- I have made new friends at the new place, but it is really not the same. I know in time it will be better.
Through all of this I have always had the support of my church friends and family, well recently I lost some of those folks as well. Right now we are like sheep without a shepherd. We are trying to be positive of course, but it is really hard when it has been such a painful loss.
Well , there are other bad things that have happened during this year, but I am not going to write about them all. I just am really ready for 2009 to go. It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad ,year. There are no guarantees for 2010 -I know, but at least the prospect of starting anew sounds hopeful in itself. So good riddance to 09 and welcome 10.
