Beverly

This morning my dad called to say that my papa's wife passed away this morning. Beverly has been in our family since before I was born. I remember them telling me one of their early dates was taking care of me and my sisters and I was a baby.
Father's Day 2003

Beverly had been diagnosed with alzheimer's a few years ago. The disease had progressed to the point of a nursing home in the last few months. Papa made this difficult decision when at a restaurant she would excuse herself to the ladies room and half way there, not only not remember where she was going, but when papa caught up with her she didn't recognize him either. I can't imagine how hard that has been for him. The woman he has lovingly called his bride to the very end after 34 years of marriage not knowing who he was. The hardest part though from my perspective is that as far as the family knew she never proclaimed a belief in Jesus. *deep breathe*

I'll post later about the weekend retreat ( for a good summary, click here) and the gluten issue I had.