Celebration

I think things have settled down enough for me to make regular appearances here on my blog!  I am looking forward to posting again, it will hopefully be fun for y'all and a little therapeutic for me!  

As I mentioned in my last post our highs and lows have been the best and worst in our lives.  Unfortunately, today I am going to fill you in our most recent, and greatest low.

On May 2 we lost Kevin's dad to cancer.  At the end of last September he was diagnosed, and a short 7 months later he entered Heaven.  Really good days and really bad days filled those 7 months.

After lots of prayer and tough choices we decided to drive to California and leave on May 2, arriving in Fresno on May 4.  A shocking phone call came in the morning while I was loading up the van, Ross had already left this world.  A crushing reality.  Our drive to California was emotional and rewarding, rewarding because our kids are remarkable in the car.  Arriving in Fresno opened the floodgates of tears, and hugs of sorrow and celebration of a man we dearly loved and would desperately miss.

The next few days were spent planning his Celebration of Life service, which was held on May 6.  Friends and family provided meals, great stories and emotional support while we grieved.  Hundreds of people joined us to celebrate Ross's life, and boy was it a celebration.  Ross is in Heaven, there can be no greater peace than knowing he is no longer in pain and he is in a place of eternal praise of our God!  We heard stories, shared lots of laughs and many tears as we remembered one of the world's most selfless men.

We spent another 4 days in California after Ross's service which was much needed time with teh McNeelys.  How desperately we will miss him, but how grateful we are to know that we will see him again when we are all free of pain!