ONE PHONE CALL.....DECEMBER 19 2011.....


Life is changed forever.  Or flood-gates are opened once again.

We had a tragedy in our area last night.  Two police officers were shot during a routine traffic stop.   One was killed, one critical.  Another in a long string of senseless acts.

The phone call, that opened my flood gates, was from son Michael.  At one time he was in law enforcement as a deputy constable.  He has a lot of friends in law enforcement. One of his friends was the officer that died last night.

Phone call - from my sister, many years ago now.  My Dad had just suffered a major heart attack.  He had never been sick.  My Mom was the sickly one.  My sister and I had to jump in and take over.  His funeral was December 24th.

I was a single Mom (not by choice) raising three children, not yet teenagers.   My sister and brother-in-law had just one child,the same age as my youngest daughter.

I was usually the one, even way back then, that held all the holiday dinners.  Christmas morning had to pretend everything was fine, Santa really did arrive, My sister brought my Mother with her, and we celebrated Christmas.  It was one of the longest days in my life. 

You suffer many losses over the years, they never get any easier, but for some reason the Christmas season is the worst.  It is the time for birth and renewal, not death and denial.

Of all the family and friends I have lost over the years, I could not begin to tell you the date of the death and funeral.  But when December 21st rolls around, I remember......and on December 24th, it is hard.  Even these many years later, it is hard.

So my prayers go out to the family that today is experiencing what I experienced so long ago.  It doesn't get easier, the holidays make sure of that, but you do cope, you do move on, there are so many others depending on you to make life seem as normal as possible.

Whatever normal may be.  

God Bless each and everyone of you today, and especially be with this family, as they really need his blessings at this time.