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My wife and I used to really enjoy the 4th of July until 18 years ago. We had made a long trip to Augusta, Ga because my mother-in-law was in the hospital for the third time in six months. She had passed out and was found by some neighbors in the mobile home she was renting in a low-rent district of Augusta. They called the ambulance, which took her to the University Hospital in Augusta. She was given a thorough physical before we had arrived in town. Once we had arrived my wife, her younger sister and her husband and I were all called into a conference room. We were informed that my MIL had non-small lung cancer and that the prognosis was for only 45-60 days to live The doctors had already scheduled her for her first round of chemo. We were only in town for a quick trip, and we left July 3rd to head back to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. When we got home, we unpacked and got ready for bed. We had only been asleep an hour when we received the call that my MIL had passed away. She had stopped breathing, and the doctors were going to bring her to, but they were informed of the DNR on file. It had been on file before as well, but the doctors still took heroic measures to save her life. We packed and headed back to Augusta for the task of getting funeral arrangements made, etc. This led to a battle between my wife, her sisters, and her uncle who was the executor of the estate. He came in and really antagonized the girls, and pushed his luck as far as he could with the two remaining sons-in-law...me and my BIL. At any rate, the funeral came and went...but the 4th of July has never been the same. To make it worse, my MIL's sister died on July 5th of the following year.
Today has been a really hard day. My wife has been trying to keep busy to NOT think about it. I usually posted on FB about my MIL, but, this year I let my SIL do it. I have been so worn down by health concerns of my own, and I just wasn't up to it. But, since I'm up at the present time, I wanted to just type a bit about what July 4th has come to mean to our family. We still love the fact that our country won it's independence, but, we have our own heartaches that have been added to the day.
Today has been a really hard day. My wife has been trying to keep busy to NOT think about it. I usually posted on FB about my MIL, but, this year I let my SIL do it. I have been so worn down by health concerns of my own, and I just wasn't up to it. But, since I'm up at the present time, I wanted to just type a bit about what July 4th has come to mean to our family. We still love the fact that our country won it's independence, but, we have our own heartaches that have been added to the day.
