Circle of Life

My nephew was born. My grandmother passed away. Babs turned six months old. Oh yeah, I guess I had a birthday too. It was a whirlwind of a week.  Sadness.  Pride.  Joy.  Life.

Monday, August 23rd – Sadness

This was my mom’s birthday. Sadly, my grandmother (my dad’s mom) had a seizure after dinner. The next day, we rushed down to Orange County to visit this 91 year old in the hospital. The Cracker was very peaceful, and unusually happy. She has had incredible life with three children, eight grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. We sang all of her favorite songs, led by my very pregnant sister, who was ready to pop any day. Grammy began hospice care that day, and had a week of ups and downs. I had a very emotional goodbye with her that night, not sure if I would see her again.

Thursday, August 26th: – Pride

Baby Barbara celebrated her six month birthday. I have said many times how we could not be more proud of our fighting Irish girl. She is doing so well and is starting to eat solid foods! Go Babs Go.
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Friday, August 27th – Joy

The star of Dad-chelor Party, and his wife Jacey, welcomed their first baby into the world. Welcome, CJ!

Monday, August 30th – Joy, Sadness, Pride, and every other possible emotion…

This was my 31st birthday. It turned out to be the most surreal day of my life. I had a great breakfast with Lucy and Babs, and then we headed down south to see my grandmother. Grammy was not doing well, and when we arrived we sang her favorite song, “Ain’t She Sweet.” We prayed the rosary while holding on to Gram, and she took her final breath at the last word of the prayer. It was a beautiful send-off, with both of her children there, as well as her grandson, great-granddaughter, and BoJangles.

Two hours earlier, I had received a call from my sister, saying that she was having a baby that day! As our grandmother passed, Elizabeth and Dan were at the hospital, awaiting the arrival of Dylan. After paying my respects to Grammy, and one last kiss, I went to babysit Owen, the big brother to be. About two hours after Grammy left us, Dylan made his grand entrance. Congratulations Lazarz’s! Dylan is one cool kid.

Lucy, Babs and I took a walk a few hours later, and chatted about the day. Our baby girl was so happy, and well-behaved. We were feeling sadness for Grammy, pride for our six month old, and joy for the new babies that just entered our world. I hope they live a life full of love, just like Grammy did.