They say these things come in three's

It's been a rough week, I'd say. Our dear neighbors down the street, whom our children have adpoted as their local grandparents, lost their daughter last weekend after a long struggle with a very unusual disease. It is so rare and uneard of, that doctors and specialists all over the country did not even know what it was. There have only been something like 7 cases of it ever reported. Basically, her brain just started shutting down. Her body was strong, and she could still understand everything that was going on around her, but she slowly lost her ability to communicate and then to make her body do the things she wanted it to. She was a dear, sweet lady who was always kind and happy. I only met her a few times, but I know her parents really well and it has been so hard to watch what this has done to them the past couple of years.

Then at the beginning of the week, I heard about a lady who passed away who was a member of the local Quilt Guild I belong to. She came to the Quilting Retreat here at Aspen Grove for many years each November. She was a very sweet lady, and an amazing quilter. She could piece the most beautiful quilts together in very little time and quilted them all herself by hand, even as she got older and it got more difficult for her to do so. She was a dear, sweet lady who touched all of us in a special way. She is the mother of our current President of the Guild and I will really miss her sweet smile at the meetings.

And now we get to #3. My cousin Carla, who is only a year younger than me, finally lost a difficuly battle to cancer last night. Carla was one of 7 children, and from that family she is the cousin that I was the closest to. She always made an effort to connect with family. She was a special girl, always very happy & positive and friendly to everyone. The kind of person you automatically feel like is your friend even after you just meet her. She got married just a few years ago to a really great guy and they have 2 beautiful little children. I cried my eyes out on Jim's shoulder today when I heard. Unfortunately, I found out just as I was walking out the door to take Madi to school and to head to my kickboxing class. I was able to compose myself and work out hard during my class, but I lost it again at the end of class. I am so grateful that I have such a terrific gym partner who is such a good friend and gave me a shoulder to cry on. I'm so glad I have so many strong shoulders to cry on when I am not strong myself. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation, and for the knowledge I have of those who have gone on before us. I will miss all three of these dear ladies, but I know they are all happy and healthy now and I look forward to the day I will see them again.