reverb10: wisdom

Today’s #reverb10 prompt:

december 10: wisdom

Days before my husband was due from his deployment, my great aunt (practically my grandma) was on her death bed. My family in New Mexico started calling the rest of the out-of-town family and suggesting it was time for everyone to come home to say their goodbyes. 

I bought a last-minute ticket home and spent all my time surrounded by all of my aunts, uncles, and dozens of cousins at “Nana and Tia’s house,” in a teeny tiny farm town in New Mexico. I was home, and despite the reason I was home, it was comforting. So often, the military lifestyle causes you to miss big moments in life—births, weddings, graduations, and death—so I was incredibly thankful and grateful to see Tia during those last hours of her life.

When my Tia passed away, I had a decision to make. I could either stay home and attend the funeral (my husband offered to fly in to meet me once he landed) or I could fly back to Georgia and welcome him home from his deployment. It was an agonizing decision and so extremely hard to leave my family, but everyone suggested I miss the rosary, viewing, and funeral so I could go be with my husband. 

I don’t know if I would call it wise and I don’t know if it was right, but it was a decision I made, and I was home when it mattered. I saw Tia, talked to her, prayed with her, and loved her, and I was with my family when she passed. I will never forget the love that overflowed from the house those few days. My wisest decision this year was going home at the right time and leaving just in the nick of time to see my husband land. My wise decision gave me an incredibly emotional few days full of many bittersweet tears.