3 Generations: Alive and Well

One year ago today, my mom suffered a severe ischemic stroke. Unbeknownst to her or any of her physicians, my mom had PFO (basically, the "hole" in the heart that closes when an infant takes its first breath wasn't truly "closed" and so a blood clot went to her brain). About 12 hours after a minor back surgery, she had the stroke at home.

Thankfully, my step-dad was right by her, recognized the signs, and called 911 immediately. The stroke left lasting damage, however, my mom has recovered excellently. She struggles a little with speech, spelling, and numbers, but she's able to do virtually all she could do before. However, due to the nature of her job and the extent of the damage, she was unable to return to work (which, ironically, was in heart disease and stroke prevention with the State Health Department). She's always wanted to stay home to spend more time with grandchildren and sewing, but none of us expected it to happen because of a stroke.

The stroke shook up my whole family in multiple ways. I know I realized, once again, how precious life is, and how quickly things can change. We witnessed many miracles in her quick recovery--many prayers were answered.

At the time, I was just discovering I was pregnant with Baby Belle. I didn't know officially at the time, but I knew (you know?). I am so grateful to still have my mom.



Fun little fact: when my mom was my age, she was pregnant with her fifth (5th! At age 28!) child and only girl.