Priorities

The holiday decorating season has begun.  We begin with our spooky, haunted houses that we have collected over the years.  At the beginning of November, I bring out the collection of various pumpkins that I have collected and then sometime in early December, Christmas collections are brought from the storage unit.

To make room for these festive items, I put away many of our family photos that grace our tables and shelves during the balance of the year.  As I was viewing the photos and deciding which ones would remain out, I picked up a photo taken of my family at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Emmetsburg, MD.  It was taken on a warm, sunny July afternoon.  When it was taken, we did not know that it would be the last family photo to include my father-in-law.

The Grotto has long been a favorite of my mother-in-law, especially prior to the birth of another child in the family.  For her 75^th birthday, we promised to take her for a visit.  It had been several years since she had visited this interesting place.

In between her birthday and the day set for the trip, my father-in-law’s health declined dramatically.  He was admitted to the hospital in mid-June and released to a rehab facility.  We fully expected that he would be coming home to us in a few weeks.

Permission was granted by the rehab facility for him to come with us to the Grotto.  He had a great smile on his face as my husband wheeled him out of the facility, to our car.  Transferring him from the chair to the car was more difficult than we expected.  But once he was in, we had a lively discussion on the hour or so drive to Emmetsburg. 

We took our time visiting the sites as we strolled up the hill to the Shrine.   Our lively conversation, become more quiet as we approached the grotto.  The five of us stopped to pray and also to light candles. Before we turned to begin the decent, a stranger was asked to take a photo of us.  At the time, it was just one more photo of the family.

We walked back to the car and drove to Emmetsburg for lunch.  I remember that my father-in-law had cream of crab soup, which he really enjoyed.  I also remember my 14 year-old son sitting next to his grand dad, engaging in conversation.

We drove back to Silver Spring and dropped of my father-in-law at the rehab facility.  As we transferred him to the chair, I realized that it was unlikely that he would ever come home to live again.

Thirteen days later, he went to his heavenly reward.  As I look at this photo, I am thankful that we took time out of our crazy-busy of our lives to spend a day with our in-laws.  The memories of that day will be with our family for many years. 

This is a photo that will stay on display all year!  It is a reminder of the importance of putting relationships before obligations.