December 20th, 2017 our mama, Doris was put in the hospital. Her stay there was WAY LONGER and more concerning than any of us anticipated. She was there for 26 days and 8 of those were in ICU. I stayed there with her on Christmas Eve, because I do not think I’ve ever NOT been with her on that special night. I left her room briefly to grab a bite to eat and I sat in that ICU waiting room. I was the only one in there. After about 20 minutes a family came in, two to three couples and a lot of kids ranging from about two to 14. Of course, I strike up a conversation with them. We were joking back and forth about some of us being Dawg fans and a ‘couple’ (lol), were Bama fans. It was refreshing to see such a sweet, close-knit family there on Christmas Eve. The glue of their family, Mr. Floyd, was in ICU also. The smaller children could not go back so they did FaceTime with him. One lady held up her laptop so the kids could say, “Merry Christmas Papa, we love you.” Yep, I burst into tears. The younger ones didn’t really understand why I was crying, but the others did. I took a picture of that sweet family and as I was gathering my things to go back to be with mama…. they ALL were saying, Merry Christmas to me, with hugs and well wishes for mother. When I got back to mama’s bedside, I sat there and held her hand and prayed very hard. There was no tree, no lights or any type of decorations…. and it did not even matter. My Christmas was lying in that bed, fighting hard to get better, and SHE DID!
The Floyd Family 2018 came in with me being very hopeful for a healthy and happy year for all of us. But that wasn’t the case for some. I lost two cousins, Carol Snell Camp and Joe T. Snell, within weeks of each other. I lost three friends/classmates, a high school coach, and a Snellville icon. After a loss of a loved one, we sit and ponder ALL of the memories we have/ had with them. I continue to pray for comfort for all their families. I myself the past year, have been blessed with many new things, (not material things), LIFE things. But I did get a new hip and now waiting on the other one soon… Yay!! I guess I really do not have a particular point to all of this, but I believe Y’all that are reading this… will find a couple. I am working hard to get healthier and happy just seems to find it’s place in my everyday endeavors. I look forward to seeing a lot more faces in the coming months. I love running into folks and catching up. I pray all of you have a wonderful rest of 2018 and beyond. If you can’t find me, CALL ME!! As always hug yourselves until I can. Oh, and P. S., we didn’t cancel Christmas, just postponed it until she could enjoy it. And she did ! All six kids, spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Much love to you all.
