Praise God!

Got the text  early today. God  finally took Frances. The text  wasn't  from God but the blessing was.  Every  time my sister and I went to visit these past couple of weeks the people from  the nursing home were nice and said "She's fine, she's doing okay and isn't in any pain." Well number one they didn't know Franny like we knew her and number two the woman laying in that bed not even able to recognize us at  the end wasn't the Franny we wanted to remember and know Franny wouldn't want to continue this way.

My sister sent me a simple text "Frances slipped away today, PTL."

She never wanted to be a burden and she never wanted to waste  away in a nursing home. Maybe a few weeks is a pretty short demise but Frances would have never wanted it. She wanted to remain in her house and go peacefully. That wasn't in the cards so even though painful to watch we alternated visits and sometimes went together. The first couple of weeks were okay, the last few not so much. When it makes my twenty one year old son cry, you know it's bad.

Halleluiah, God took her today. The instant her heart stopped she was whole again. No more heart problems, no more kidney  problems, no more deafness. No more worrying about people having to look after her. No more worries about the horrible pain she was in from  the bleeding bruising  on the back of her calves from losing circulation.

Once she took her last breath, it was a whole new ball game. I can just see her strutting through the pearly gates and with her raspy voice asking St Peter where my Diddy (her cousin) was and demanding to be introduced to my Momma. I can hear her saying in that scratchy voice of hers to God, "What took Ya so long? I've been ready for a while. Where do I go and what do You need me to do?"

Does it sound bad I am thrilled she has passed onto her reward? I don't care if it does. I'm glad she is gone. I will miss her, but being a Christian and knowing she is now flying high and bossing around the angels makes me smile. The last few weeks seeing her have made me sad and that's not the way she should be or would want to be remembered.

Her funeral is Monday and believe it or not  my youngest  son , Zach wants to go with me. The last time she was coherent was when Zach went with me to visit. It was the last time she cracked a joke. It was the last time she seemed like Franny. She was in pain but though her pain still cracked a joke with Zach and even asked about Massey and asked how she liked college?

This woman was dying in a nursing home and smart as she was , knew it but still cracked jokes with Zach and asked how Massey was doing .  She was and IS an incredible woman. The stories we have about her are endless and hoping to share a few at her service. If they don't ask me to speak, no worries. I have no qualms about raising my hand to speak or interrupting the service. Frances was a marvelous amazing woman. She deserves to have stories told about her and laughter be abundant.

She would never want tears unless they were tears of joy and laughter. I think I can take care of that for her, it's the least I can do for a magnificent human being like her. I swear if I can be half the eighty two year old woman she was, I'll be doing it right!

Praise The Lord...Frances hurts no more.

Til next  tome...COTTON