There Will Be A Day

Beautiful sunrise this morning!

Last night was my last night shift! It's very bittersweet...I will miss working nights with with everyone that I've grown to know, care for, and adore...but I'm extremely excited to get to know the day nurses better, learn even more, and be on a regular sleep schedule...case in point I had wanted to go make my big purchase today at REI but they didn't open until 9...so I got home at 8:20, cleaned, did some homework, and by the time I was done with homework it was 11 am. So I thought to myself, "Oh I will just take a little nap" (I really should know by now that after I've worked my three 12's that a nap is really 'goodnight')! So I woke up at 6pm and decided I could either A) book it to REI before they closed and purchase my Garmin or B) go for my 4 mile run outside before the sun set so that I wouldn't have to run inside on the treadmill. After about a 20 minute deliberation I decided to go for option B! I am glad I did. It was so beautiful outside this evening and there really weren't that many people out, which is weird for a weekend and evening. The run itself was difficult...but I kept reminding myself I was going uphill, and that I was still maintaining a good pace. So I finished my 4 miles in 51 minutes and got home before it was pitch black! Yay! This just means that tomorrow I will make the big purchase! Woohoo! I did miss a cross-training day this week. I'm slightly disappointed in myself, but there's no use dwelling on it..I stayed within my calorie goal so that's good! 

So Wednesday I mentioned that my mom was headed out to be with my grandparents to help figure out how to care for my Grandpa as he was on a rapid decline related to Alzheimer's Disease. Well I was sleeping wednesday afternoon as I worked that night. When I woke up I had 19 text messages, missed calls, and voicemails. My Grandpa passed away Wednesday afternoon. It was a very peaceful death, my Grandma was at his side holding his hand, and he did not suffer. I have had experienced enough deaths to know how blessed my Grandfather was to have a peaceful and pain-free death...and that's all I could ever hope and ask for! My mom arrived out there shorty after he passed. While I mourn the loss of a beloved and only Grandfather (my other Grandpa died before I was born) I rejoice in his arrival to the Kingdom of Heaven! He is no longer in a battle between his mind and reality and there's no more suffering! You can read a quick recap on his life here! What will I remember most about Grandpa? His excitement, love, and passion of trains! His absolute love and unquenchable desire for ice cream (I am blessed and cursed with that same love), I won't forget the sound of him and Grandma playing their saxophones together...and of course I will never forget how he taught me to eat a grapefruit (leave no flesh or juice behind)!! Grandpa you will be missed, but you've left behind a legacy that will last a lifetime, and we rejoice in the fact that you are now with our Lord and Savior...and we will see you again! I would share a picture of me and Grandpa...but it's on my old computer that is broken at this moment!

My sister Erika is the one that called me and left a message saying Grandpa had passed away. And she said Jeremy Camp's song, "There Will Be a Day" had just played and it was so perfect and fitting so I will share it with you all!!

"There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears. There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face. But until that day, we'll hold on to you always ...I can't wait until that day where the very one I've lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I've faced. To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing"