Merry Christmas, and God Bless!

December 2022

Merry Christmas, and God Bless!

Published by

C. S. Thurman

on

December 16, 2022

This year has been a hard one.

Or rather it has been a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings. After my post in October my daughter was born 2 days later! She came a month early, but it was a wonderful late birthday present for me to be able to see her so soon. She has blessed our family in ways that I have yet to comprehend (probably from the lack of sleep), and I hate every minute that I can’t spend time with her, my wife, and my other kids. There is some kind of heavenly quality about a newborn child that just draws the spirit and brings a sense of newness to the world.

However, there are things that drive a spike through our heart and leave us broken.

Just this last weekend my Uncle Aaron Bacher passed away. He had been suffering from brain cancer and had gone through multiple treatments to try and stop it, but to no avail. This news hit me in a way that I never expected it to. Sure we had been told that he had about a month to live in his last update from what the doctors had told him, but it never really hit home what that would actually mean for me and my family. I should have thought about it more since my mom has leukemia, and has gone through a bone marrow transfusion treatment that has left her weak and tired. It breaks my heart every time we see her and at the same time amazed at how strong she is. With my Uncle having passed away from his own cancer, it has left me with a deeper sense of what I need to be doing to be there for my mother as she goes through her own trials with cancer.

And of course, as soon as I heard the news about my Uncle, my heart immediately went out to 2 people. The first was to his wife, who had not only been with him for about 4 years, but was also the mother to his infant son. As a father to my own newborn my heart ached for their loss and the chance that his son would never get to know him or that his wife would not have the physical companionship that she has come to expect and know. Aaron was a bright light that brought a smile to everyone’s face and I loved those times when I could hang out with him during his trips and visits here in Utah. I hate that his son will never get to experience that and only get second hand stories of the amazing man his father was.

The second person my heart cried out for was my own mother. I knew this would hit her hard, and I took some time to call and grieve with her and to let her know I was there for her. Some of you may remember, but it was about this time last year that I had another family member pass away who also happened to be my Mom’s sister. Coming from a large family, I can’t even begin to comprehend what it would be like to loose a sibling and I hope that it doesn’t happen for years to come, but to lose 2 within a year of each other just makes my heart ache for my mother and her family and everything that they have gone through.

Seeing what my extended family members have gone through makes me appreciate more the family that I have with my wife and to cherish them all each and every day. I love my mom and attribute my creative nature from her as she encouraged my love of reading, often joining in on some of my favorite books that I read growing up. Unfortunately, because of illness on both sides I haven’t been able to be around my mother with her weakened immune system or with my newborn trying to avoid RSV, and hope that I’ll be able to go soon. Especially since this the season to spend time with loved ones both near and far.

I know that I promised to have a new chapter of the Muldrix series up soon, and that I missed last months update, but I never expected the challenges to be so draining with a newborn. Being the father of 3 older children made me think it would be easier with the extra hands to help around the house. The only problem with that logic? We didn’t do enough preparation before hand. Now my wife and I are doing our best to keep up on a house behind chores while making sure to keep our new little one happy and alive. I have been slowly getting back into the swing of things and hope that I’ll be able to start writing some more again soon. This time of the year is always busy for our family so in the future I just need to plan on that and write more before the holiday season approaches.

As a consolation, here are some of the artwork that I will be putting in my son’s book that I am writing for him. And before you ask, no, it is not done and I still have a lot to finish. Fortunately, his birthday is just around the corner so I can still make him this book and have it for a birthday present instead.

Here’s hoping you all have a wonderful Christmas, and a happy New Year! Keep your loved ones close, and stay merry!