We had plans to go see some family the weekend before Halloween. We were taking Bean to see her great grandmothers in north Texas. On Friday, I decided that waiting until next weekend was a bad idea. Call it intuition, call it a hunch, call it whatever you want.

I marched into hubman’s office and told him we needed to pack up and leave today. This was Friday, October 20th. He didn’t ask questions. He just finished up his work for the day and we were on the road.

On Saturday, October 21st, we walked in to surprise Grandmom Grace. She had no idea we were coming to see her and to see the smile on her face when we walked in was absolutely the best thing ever.

Grandmom held our sweet Ady, gave her lots of hugs and kisses and told her she’s just beautiful. We ate lunch with Grandmom and visited for a few hours before Ady got cranky and decided it was nap time.

It was the hug. The hug when we said “see ya later” just hit different. I told Grandmom that we’d be back for her birthday, but somehow I knew… I knew in my heart that we wouldn’t be having a party this year. Though teary eyes and with a heavy heart I hugged her a bit tighter. I kissed her cheek and tried not to let her see my face as I walked away. Hearing her talk about how precious our daughter is melted my heart.

Later that week, Grandmom ended up in the hospital. She fought like the dickens and eventually went to rehab to get stronger.

Unfortunately, getting stronger and going back home to be her feisty self wasn’t how this story ends.

We lost my precious Grandmom Grace on Thursday, November 16th. Knowing that she got to know our Ady is the only thing I wanted. I wanted her to hold her, talk to her, love her, AND SHE DID. Ady will always know her Grandmom Grace. She’ll hear stories and we’ll share memories with her as much as much as we possibly can.

As I sit here at 4am typing this, tomorrow we are going to Grandmom’s visitation and Monday we’ll have her service to say our final goodbyes. Almost to the day, we lost another precious grandmother, Nonnie 6 years ago. November hurts.

I hope one day Ady knows how incredibly special she was to her. Grandmom thought Ady was the best little princess in the entire world.

I’d like to think that Ady and the rest of the family didn’t lose Grandmom, we just gained one of the best angels there ever was to have wings.

Welcome home, Grandmom. Please watch over us because this world is cruel and we need all the help we can get from our angels. I love you. Ady loves you. You’ll NEVER be forgotten.

View Grandmom’s obituary here.

I’m not sure I have anymore words for right now. My heart hurts. I’ve lost my best friend. So for now, I’ll leave you with some unsolicited advice: Call your grandparents. Call your parents. Call your siblings and your cousins. Go see them if you can. Hug them tight. TELL THEM YOU LOVE THEM! You never know when that will be the last time.

Hopfully my next post will be a bit more cheerful. For now, I’m going to flip my pillow over and try to fall asleep so that I’m not a complete zombie when I see my family tomorrow.

I LOVE YOU ALL. SERIOUSLY.