A message from the Christmas Angels...

I did a complete double take when I sat down this morning to write a blog post and realized that my last one was on the morning of the day that Mom died. Today was supposed to be our memorial service for her, and due to the intervening of nature we had to postpone it... which is just as well since we now have 12 inches of snow and nobody's driving anywhere. It has been a long month, and I was quite looking forward to getting through the service before Christmas. But I've learned a lot in 2009, and I'm continuing to realize that if God was sending a message in big flashing neon lights for me to learn this year it would say "YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL, LEARN TO DEAL WITH THAT!" I'm certain God would have a more eloquent and polite way of saying that, but my point is that I get it.

I may never really learn to deal with it, but I do get it. I know that Mom's memorial service wouldn't really give me any sense of 'closure' or 'magical healing from grief' or even stress relief probably, although I think that's what I was sort of expecting, and why I was crushed at first when we had to delay it. Now, though, I'm sitting on the couch in Blacksburg, cuddling with our pets, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, drinking chocolate mint truffle coffee (a Christmas staple!) admiring the amazing accumulation of snow, and at peace with not having to deal with all the arrangements and extended family and being strong for everyone else today.

Speaking of the snow, there is no way this is a coincidence. Do you know when the last time VA had a foot of snow in December was??? Let alone when all of a sudden, 24 hours before it hit, the forecast went from a beautiful clear and chilly December weekend, to every meteorologist from the local goons to Al Roker being 100% sure we'd get the brunt of this incredible storm??? Neither do I, but I know it is rare, and I think it was the Christmas Angels saying directly to me "Try to relax little one, enjoy this glorious holiday in a new way, find peace in something everyday, and let yourself be okay with changes to your plans, because our plans are the ones that matter." Only the angels would of course be singing that message as a choir with joyful ethereal voices... because that's what angels do right?