Courage Through the Covid-19 Storm: Interruption for Grieving

I interrupt "Courage Through the Covid-19 Storm" for grieving. 

Listen to this blogpost on Anchor https://anchor.fm/karen-sue-murdy/episodes/Courage-Through-the-Covid-19-Storm-Interruption-for-Grieving-edvptv
and Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/7hKa1KySNQKqVALAUWUiGp

All of a sudden I realized that it is not about the graduation ceremonies and celebrations, or lack there of, but it is the pure raw emotion and realization that my son is two weeks away from graduating from high school. My youngest son. My fourth of four boys. An era of my life is about to end! One that has been so long and so short. One that has been so sad and so happy. One that has been so tiring and so exhilarating. 

As the waves of grief wash over me I know that I have to stop and just embrace and experience this sadness.  Life's journey has taught me that I cannot avoid the grief. Sooner or later you have to walk through the pain of grief. So now is a moment when I am pausing to grieve, to remember, to celebrate, to release the past. Before I step into a new stage of life. 

Birth and graduation has had interesting bookends for the 2020 high school graduates. Birth was the time of 9/11. And now graduation is the time of crazy Covid-19. 

From the time my son was six weeks old until he was 16 weeks old, we lived at my mom's home as she died from cancer. My son was held, rocked, smiled at, and played with by extended family and friends, from sunrise to sunset every day for 10 weeks. He was nurtured and loved by a house full of people. And he smiled back and comforted everyone with his presence of new life, even as my beloved momma headed to her death. As we headed back to our home in WI, friends gathered around to continue to support and uphold us. And my son's three big brothers continued to delight in rocking, smiling at, and playing with their young brother. 

Yesterday as we took a beautiful May walk, we talked through memory lane. From the teachers and friends at St. Paul's Lutheran Church and School, and then Classical Conversations and our homeschooling friends and adventures, on to Parker High School as he followed in his brothers' footsteps briefly, and finally culminating with our move to Texas and our incredible experiences at Concordia High School. So many special people along the path to support and cheer us, to laugh and to cry with us.

Prayers galore. If you are raising kids, prayer=survival. Along the way, I have been blessed with prayer warriors-friends and family members- who lifted my children in prayer. For many years I was part of Moms in Prayer, a group that met regularly to pray. When my boys were in middle and high school, multiple times I would literally lay face down on my bedroom floor, crying and pouring out my prayers to God for guidance and intercession on behalf of my boys. Throughout the years St. Paul's words have been in the forefront of my mind. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Some things will definitely change...The presence of school boys working on home work, the drop off to practices, the day to day meal planning for boy-sized appetites, etc are ending. But some things will never change...my joy, my love, my prayers for my boys.

This picture hung in my house for many years:

The time has come. Graduation from high school for my youngest. 

For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down Covid-19...my baby is graduating and babies don't keep. 

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UP NEXT TIME: Apologizing