April 27 – “And so the dancing begins …”

The weekend continuous care hospice nurse arrived for his shift at around 8 yesterday morning.  What we didn’t know was that he was actually the elusive most interesting man in the world.  He was an ex-firefighter and ex-paramedic.   When he heard Chris had been a pediatric nurse he remembered that he had been one of those as well.  In fact as the morning wore on we discovered that he was an ex-just about everything else you might want to mention in his presence.  And on top of all that, he has lived in Alaska and the Caribbean and Mexico and anywhere else you might have ever lived.  He said he wanted to hear our stories about Mom, so we tried sharing a few.  But every time we took a breath, he just happened to have a story about that very thing.  Like how when his Mom died he breathed in her last breath so that she would continue to live through him.  Something about the customs of wherever she was when she died.  As I said … Interesting.  We were not sure all of his stories were true, but they were for the most part quite entertaining.  We needed the comic relief.

And the reason we needed it was that right around 9:15 a.m. on April 26, 2014, Oralee Vaughan joined a square dancing square in heaven with Jesse as her partner and Jesus as her corner.  And so the dancing begins.  I had to use the square dance reference because it was one of the favorite activities her and my Dad ever enjoyed together.  As it became more and more evident that the time was near, Chris, me, Nathan, and good ol’ Nurse David gathered around Mom and held hands.  I said a brief prayer, and just as we all said “Amen,” Mom drifted off peacefully.  It was actually quite a beautiful moment.

We made our notification phone calls and soon both of my brothers and their wives and one of my nieces were at the house to see her off.  Nathan and Kel joined their families at a one-year birthday celebration for Kel’s daughter Noa.  Couldn’t have thought up a better way to celebrate Mom’s move away from this world than to rejoice at a birthday – a celebration of a life just moved into this world.  And to top it off, up in Waco, Josh and his family will be celebrating as well today by dedicating their new youngster, Luke, to the Lord.  They will head down here after that service to join us.  We have already heard from numerous good friends wishing us well and encouraging us with words of comfort.  Family visitation will be on Tuesday evening (29 April 2014) from 5-8 at Carnes Brothers Funeral Home in Galveston.  The service will be the next day (30 April 2014) at 2 p.m. at the same place.  There will be a brief graveside service to follow, and then we’ll have whoever wants to come over, well, to come over for some food and sharing and being together. 

Chris and I have already talked about how very different it will be around our house.  We were able to recall a brief period of our life together right after we got married when it was just the two of us in the house.  And pretty much ever since then, for the bulk of our almost 39 years together, we have had someone living with us – our own children of course, but also Robby, Katie, an entire family one time, Brian and Brandon, Allen, along with the host of others who have been here for a night or two or maybe more.  Not to mention the months that Chris moved in with her mother to care for her at her end of life.  We wouldn’t have traded a minute of it, either.  Now we are wondering what comes next.  Oh, we are planning to take a vacation.  Where?  No idea.  We may just start driving and see where we end up.  It’ll give us a chance to talk and get reacquainted.  I for one am looking forward to that.  She’s quite a woman, you know.

Thank you again to everyone who has offered prayers and condolences and encouragement through our transition walk with Mom.    It’ll be difficult to say individual thank-you’s to everyone, but know your expressions have been and will continue to be appreciated.  Oh, and … keep ‘em coming.  They really do make a difference.

Philippians 4:4-7 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Father, would you say hello to my Mom for me?  She’ll be the one who’s been dancing with Jesse since yesterday morning.  Thanks.  Amen.