Missed.

The biggest downside of living in various parts of the country and away from your family are the moments missed.

I have missed weddings, births of my nieces, holidays, and just ordinary days.

Today marks another thing missed.

This past weekend my family said goodbye to Mabel, my step-grandma.

She had a stroke recently so we knew it was only a matter of time.

She was this little old thing that just loved to tell a story. (Sometimes three or four times in one sitting.)

If you couldn’t guess, Mabel is the one in the bright red shirt, surprisingly with her eyes open. (Which is a rarity in most family pictures…)

Since my dad remarried when I was fairly young, we were fortunate to be have 3 sets of grandparents for most of our life. Granted, we call them Mabel and Bob, but the love of grandparents none-the-less.

I find myself without much to say or being able to verbalize it. There are so many emotions that cannot be fully expressed.

Emotions of the loss, emotions of not being there for my step-mom, emotions that Mabel will never meet George, emotions of separation.

At times like these, you just want to be be there and with your family. Unfortunately though, I cannot make the 8 hour drive (more like 10 hours in my current pregnant state) to be at the funeral today.

So you do what you can.

Mabel, here’s to you and your full life.

I guess this means someone will have to fill your shoes as the ringer at holiday card games and keep us on our toes.