They almost didn't meet each other...

Come September our youngest son will be a year old. I can hardly believe how fast this year has gone by. I feel like with each new child, their babyhood gets shorter and shorter. Perhaps it's because I feel like I have a little less time to sit back and soak up every moment when there are children who need tending to. 

Our son was born in the month when my grandmother was very ill and he almost didn't get to meet his great-grandma. She had a stroke and was unable to speak, eat, drink or swallow- her throat was completely paralyzed. Her body began to shut down and there wasn't anything we could to help her except pray. And so we did. We prayed and prayed as we watched her body grow more frail. And even though all signs pointed toward the inevitable we still held onto to hope. And then... the unexpected, should-have-never-happened, happened. She recovered! Slowly she came back to us. A small noise turned into a swallow, a swallow into a moan, a moan turned into a word, a word into a sentence, and before we knew it she was eating and drinking again. 

She was moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center right around the time that Matthew was due. I was getting quite frustrated that he was taking his time arriving and I went to visit her. She put her hand on my very large belly and said a blessing...

"Hail Mary full of grace... Now come out you lazy fart!" 

And it worked! I went into labor the next night and our sweet Matthew was born, ahem... twenty seven hours later (maybe I should have had her give me a few more blessings)! Here he is meeting her for the first time...

My grandma has grown stronger each day since then and has made an incredible recovery! Today, she can speak, eat, drink, laugh, and even tell jokes. She is still as spunky as ever and has an even bigger twinkle in her eye.. 

Here she is a few weeks ago with our son. He is the youngest of her eighteen great-grandchildren. This picture and her expression takes my breath away every time I look at it...

Such pure love. Such immense joy. Time feels as though it's standing still when I watch the two of them together. I am always reminded of God's incredible goodness and mercy. What a precious gift it is to still have her with us.