Is Fall Really Here??

I heard today that a cold front may push into this area tomorrow or Wednesday, bringing drier and cooler air. Could that be? Are we really that close to the end of this oppressively hot, muggy summer? The heat just wearies me.

My native Floridian soul is longing for a cool morning on my little porch with a cup of hot coffee and a dog at my feet. Ahhh. Just the thought of it lowers my blood pressure and pulse and puts a smile on my face.

Fall is my favorite season, and each year I can hardly wait for its arrival. Its signs are more subtle down here in the Sunshine State, but they are here: cardinal vine in full bloom, fuschia colored berries circling the stems of the Beauty Berry, yellow leaves dropping from the wild cherry trees. It is nothing like Vermont or even North Carolina, but there is color here in Autumn. You just have to know where to look. And you can see it best from the front porch, coffee in hand...

PS. The picture is definitely NOT Florida, but isn't it beautiful?

Finally Home

On Tuesday night my mom peacefully passed from this life into the presence of her Savior. She had tried to fight off the pneumonia, but was far too weak to do so. Because of the care she received from Hospice she was without pain, and in those last hours was completely at peace.

There are few words to adequately describe our gratitude for the staff at Hospice House in Hudson, and at the Hospice Care Center in Spring Hill. The doctors and nurses at both those facilities were such a comfort to Mother and to me. I am so grateful.

I will miss my mother, but I know that she is with Jesus. Thank you for your prayers for our family. I felt the peace of God, a perfect peace, as I sat in Mother's room on her last day here on earth. I'm confident that was because of the friends who were lifting me up in prayer, and I am grateful.

Hospice

My mom is now in the care of Hospice House. She is quite weak and tired, and I don't think she has a long time left before she enters the presence of Jesus. While she is ready to go and even asks God to take her home, she is naturally reluctant to leave those she loves so much here.
My prayer is that the loving Father will give her peace about coming home to spend eternity with Him, and that she will pass peacefully from this world. "For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord."