Called Home

Today my younger sister was finally called home, thus ending my Mom’s long shouldered burden.

Mama McKinney faithfully and painstakingly cared for her own mother as she approached the end at age 96. Gin- Gin (as we knew her) was a graceful and gracious matriarch who was adored by all that knew her.

During this time my father began showing greater signs of his impending dementia, and started to require care of his own. This caused my wife and I to reevaluate our positions and start building a place to live on the family farm where we could be close enough to help on a daily basis.

Lots of obstacles were overcome and we made great progress but still were a ways off from being able to move in.

Simultaneously, my sister (3 years younger) was inexplicably stricken with the same diagnosis. Apparently she had been on a downhill slide for some time but I think we were all slow to notice.

At a certain point, with a lot of hired and family help, Mom was actually caring for the three of them simultaneously.

We lost Gin-Gin in May of 21 and Dad hung on until the night before Christmas of 23. This spurred my wife and I into action, and the Good Lord blessed us with a property four miles away from the family farm that we could move into immediately.

The last few months have been a blur. Trying to take care of all the things that come up as new homeowners, working day jobs, and coming over to help Mom with my sister’s care as much as possible. The last month or so my wife has been there every morning, and we both have been there every evening. We have seen firsthand the ravages of this disease right down to the final day. My prayers are with anyone who has suffered as a loved one is stricken with such a cruel disease.

Prayers for Mama McKinney, for her years of selfless sacrifice, and the hard road of recovery that we are thankfully here to help her through.

May GOD bless you and yours.