(Post updated 9/18/19)
Hey, y’all. It’s been awhile. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll know the reason behind my absence. Not long after my last post, my dad was having some dizziness issues and went into the hospital just after mid-September. Three weeks later, he was gone to be with my mom. It was sudden, very unexpected, and even after all this time it still blows us away. My dad was 83 but you’d never know it. We know now that he must have felt something wasn’t right. He had checked with us kids to make sure we had a copy of his will and his medical directives. He’d spoken with our minister about some specific songs he wanted sung at his service. This was just about three weeks before he went into the hospital. The thing that didn’t make sense is he’d bought a new car only two weeks before going into the hospital!!
The dizziness was the result of a stroke that he’d either had or was in the process of having. Throughout the next three weeks, he had an initial ICU stay due to an unknown allergy with some meds. Finally got to rehab where he was anxious to get better because he had “things to do and things to make up for.” Another incident that required surgery landed him in ICU again, and ultimately he would never leave there.
He did end up doing a bit better at one point and was ready to keep going and I was glad because the next day would have been Mom’s birthday. But, the very next day – my youngest son’s birthday – when I got to the hospital, it was obvious things were not going well. By late evening it was evident the best thing to do was to keep him comfortable.
My prayer – which I fully considered selfish at that point in time – was for the Lord not to take my dad on my son’s birthday. While praying, the number 154 came into my head. I shared that with my husband, brother, and sister when we got back to the hospital to be with him. Dad made it past midnight and went to be with our mom at 1:54 a.m. the day after my son’s birthday. Although we knew the Lord had already been with us, it was certainly amazing for Him to let us know that He was taking care of things at every turn. God is good.
So, dealing with his passing and everything that needs to be done (it’s an ongoing task!) my design work went by the wayside for the most part. I’m slowly getting back to it now.
I recently managed to open a shop at Zazzle. It’s a good fit for me, I think. I can add my patterns or illustrations to products and they can be customized by customers. You can add your name, initials, a quote, etc. It’s pretty cool. My Etsy shop is debatable at this point. But all my other shops are still active, so I hope you’ll go take a peek!
That’s about it for now. I did want to let you know where I’ve been and why. Hope all of you are doing well.
As always, thanks for visiting.
-Lisa