Remembering Whitney...

Blogging is new to me. I typically share through e-mails with my friends but was encouraged to blog and share to many more. Recently, my daughter Whitney, died in a tragic car accident at the age of 25. Young, single, sassy and funny was she. Whitney lived life to the absolute fullest and transferred her energy during the day to two sweet boys, Bryce & Brooks. She was a Nanny in my sister, Kristi's, neighborhood in Buckhead. She was deemed the modern day 'Mary Poppins' who used her Honda Civic to pop in the various homes she sat for instead of the umbrella Mary used. She made friends fast and continued to nurture the old ones. She adored her kids she babysat for in the neighborhood and equally adored their parents. She is missed by many but especially by her mother...ME.

Grieving is a new journey...paved by uncertainty. I never know how or when the grief will grab my attention and swiftly send me into tears, or sometimes into total numbness. I am just in the last month coming out of shock...it has taken several weeks to slowly drain off. Her death was July 18, 2009, so we have just past the two month marker. The weeks have gone swiftly but slowly--depending on my state of mind.

My sister, Lori, is building a Lake House in Wedowee, Alabama. It has been my life preserver every Wednesday. We go early, and we talk about Whitney and then we don't. I sometimes cry or we'll just be silent and it's okay because she's my sister and she knows. We immerse ourselves in the decisions of the day, choosing things, deciding on everything from faucets to trim work to how many feet should the sofa be from the fireplace. It's relaxing, soothing and it takes the place of medication--And I'm grateful.

But, it is God that has kept my feet hitting the floor every morning. He wakes me up, reminding me that He has given me another morning to glorify Him. God reminds me that Whitney is with Him entertaining her friends with her fabulously funny personality and that I still have a life to continue, a home to run and children to still get to school. So, I continue on...and as we ALL know...God did not promise that it would be easy...He just promised to be there.

And He is...