Today I've been thinking about Taylor, the sibling between me & Shauna who went to be with the Lord before meeting us here on earth. Right now, sitting with the Lord... in His arms... enjoying the glory of Heaven... my mind can't even wrap around that. When my Grandma goes to be with the Lord any time now, she will meet a grandchild never held here. I can't wait to be a big sister to 2 one day... to have both of them with me... and although it could be decades away, it's the blink of an eye compared to eternity.
I can't imagine.
Come quickly, Lord...
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A Death in the Family
As my long-time readers will probably remember, I am a Kennedy cousin. If you've seen the news today you may know that Mary Kennedy, Rob Jr.'s wife, has died at the age of 52 and leaving behind 4 children who are in various stages of being school-aged.
Looking at the family tree I finally wrote out in order to understand who is who in our family, the best I can figure out is that Robert Jr. is my 3rd cousin twice removed. I know the names of the people but I'm not so great at figuring out what number cousin and the whole "removed" thing. Anyway, on that side of the family, my close family and the extended Kennedy family are close. Because I grew up away from all of their homes in Massachusetts, I don't know them as well, although I did see who you would know as Senator Edward Kennedy a few times here in D.C.
Anyway, although I didn't know Mary, I know the extended Kennedy family and I am a blood relative so this is always weird for me. Whenever a Kennedy dies, it's a national story, and I feel almost like it's intrusive. All you have to do is LOOK at our family album and my grandparent who was a Kennedy looks IDENTICAL to the way Edward looked in his later life. I mean, they pass as SIBLINGS rather than cousins. So when I see these faces I see my family. And I know from talking with them that it's hard to grieve in public.
Mostly, PLEASE pray for those kids. Their mother is gone, they don't have the privacy one would usually have, and worst of all is that it looks like it was a suicide. Having lost my uncle to suicide last spring, I struggle DAILY with feelings of sorrow mixed with anger, and this is their mother. In addition, details may emerge publicly that they don't want to hear.
Of course, the headline last night on one international news website was: "The Curse of Camelot Strikes Again." I'm soooo tired of that whole curse thing, and kind of wish people would see the sorrow rather than sensationalizing it. Anyway, those kids are my distant cousins and that alone makes me feel sad. Not because I've lost someone, but because they have.
It's hard to explain why Kennedy loses bother me so much, but if you know me in person, you probably also know that I feel that way about ALL my extended family, Kennedy or not. I'm big on family, big on connecting, and big on feeling sad for someone who is hurting, ESPECIALLY if they're family.
Please keep the immediate family in your prayers, especially Mary's children. Please also pray that they will be given the privacy needed to grieve, especially as further details of what happened come to light.
Looking at the family tree I finally wrote out in order to understand who is who in our family, the best I can figure out is that Robert Jr. is my 3rd cousin twice removed. I know the names of the people but I'm not so great at figuring out what number cousin and the whole "removed" thing. Anyway, on that side of the family, my close family and the extended Kennedy family are close. Because I grew up away from all of their homes in Massachusetts, I don't know them as well, although I did see who you would know as Senator Edward Kennedy a few times here in D.C.
Anyway, although I didn't know Mary, I know the extended Kennedy family and I am a blood relative so this is always weird for me. Whenever a Kennedy dies, it's a national story, and I feel almost like it's intrusive. All you have to do is LOOK at our family album and my grandparent who was a Kennedy looks IDENTICAL to the way Edward looked in his later life. I mean, they pass as SIBLINGS rather than cousins. So when I see these faces I see my family. And I know from talking with them that it's hard to grieve in public.
Mostly, PLEASE pray for those kids. Their mother is gone, they don't have the privacy one would usually have, and worst of all is that it looks like it was a suicide. Having lost my uncle to suicide last spring, I struggle DAILY with feelings of sorrow mixed with anger, and this is their mother. In addition, details may emerge publicly that they don't want to hear.
Of course, the headline last night on one international news website was: "The Curse of Camelot Strikes Again." I'm soooo tired of that whole curse thing, and kind of wish people would see the sorrow rather than sensationalizing it. Anyway, those kids are my distant cousins and that alone makes me feel sad. Not because I've lost someone, but because they have.
It's hard to explain why Kennedy loses bother me so much, but if you know me in person, you probably also know that I feel that way about ALL my extended family, Kennedy or not. I'm big on family, big on connecting, and big on feeling sad for someone who is hurting, ESPECIALLY if they're family.
Please keep the immediate family in your prayers, especially Mary's children. Please also pray that they will be given the privacy needed to grieve, especially as further details of what happened come to light.
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