Thursday, March 19, 2009

A Prayer Request and a PSA.

I hesitated posting about this. I am not sure why. Maybe because I try to keep my blog upbeat, fun and positive. My blog is a documentation of my and our lives and I try to move past the not so great moments in my life and focus on the goodness life has to offer. However. This is weighing heavy on my heart and I need to "get it off my chest" so to speak.

The children you see here in the picture are my younger brother's kids. Mya is 7 1/2 and Derek is 5 1/2. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, their 31 year old Mother died in her sleep. Just to clear things up for all of you...their Mother and my brother were not together. They have been apart for several years. It was not a good relationship or separation and that's enough said about that.

Anyway. I believe in the power of prayer and the more, the better. So having said that...I am asking you to take a minute out of your day and please pray for these children and my brother. Pray that God will see them through this very difficult time and watch over them closely for they will need extra angels in their lives. Please pray that my brother, Albert, who has now become the full time custodial parent will have the strength, patience, sense of humor and everything else it will take to parent these kids through this and into adulthood. He loves these kids so much and has a wonderful relationship with them that I know in my heart that he will do whatever it takes to raise them properly. He is just going to need our prayers for this new journey he has just started. He will not be alone in this. My parents, my older sister, Curtis and myself will all be there for him and the kids.

Thank you for all of your prayers. It's going to be a long road to some sort of normalcy for the three of them so all your prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Okay. Now to my PSA...
The results are not back as to why their Mother passed away yet but they are obviously due to a medical condition. We have since learned from her Mother that she had very high blood pressure and was a diabetic. She refused...yes, refused...to take medication for her high blood pressure. I know you are sitting there going "WHAT??" because that was my reaction. Her Mother said that she tried to get her to take it but you "couldn't tell her anything." I have to be honest here, I am angry! Angry at her for not taking care of herself for her children. Angry at her for taking herself away from her children. Yes. I blame her. I know I shouldn't but I can't help myself. My heart is breaking for these children that they will grow up without a Mother.

I know I will get past my anger but right now I'm going to use it to fuel my "Public Service Announcement." So. My questions for you are:

When was the last time you had a physical?
Are you doing everything you need to do so you can be the best for your children and loved ones?
Are you getting enough sleep?
Are you eating healthy?
Are you getting enough exercise?
Do you know what your cholesterol levels are?

I could go on and on but you understand where I'm going with this. Be honest with yourself and take a look at yourself and DO something about it! Please!

I am going to admit right here, right now that I have not been my best. I put myself last...always. I am a caretaker by nature and take care of those around me first and never think about myself. My doctor retired at the beginning of last year and I have not found a new doctor yet. It wasn't high on my priority list. Guess where it is right now? Yup...on the top of my list. Here's another true confession for you...I lost 43 pounds on Weight Watchers last year and fell off the wagon in the fall. I probably have put half of it back on. Why? Because I got busy with life and put that on the back burner. So obviously the answers for me to "Are you eating healthy?" and Do you get enough exercise?" is No and No.

I need to make a change in my life. I need to treat my health as I would treat my family. I need to put it first! I need to take care of it like I would my daughter.

I'm making a promise to my family and myself here today to find the better me. My first steps are that I will complete three things before the end of March.
These three things are:
1. I will find a new doctor and make an appointment for a physical...and keep the appointment.
2. I will re-join Weight Watchers.
3. I will work exercise into my life.

My question to all of you is:
Will you join me in finding the better you?

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cindi-

I will pray for your brother and his children, and hope that time will heal their spirits.

Thank you for the reminder as well. I lost 23 pounds last year on WW, and gained about half of it back since the fall. No excuse for myself other than "life happens." I've been telling myself that I'll do WW again on my own, but it never seems to happen, and I may have to go back to the meetings again.

Good luck and thank you!

Lisa

That Girl said...

oh how horrible for those kids!

Jenny said...

That is heart breaking :( 31 is so young. I will pray for these kids and your brother.

Great PSA. Sometimes us Moms forget about ourselves, because we get so busy.

My Memaw died of complications of diabetes 3 years ago and I told myself that I never want to die like that. I wasn't overweight YET, but only 5 pounds away. I joined WW with my sister and Mom and lost 32 pounds! I also joined a gym and workout for an hour on M, W and Fridays.

Good luck with finding your new doctor and making yourself first.

Controlling My Chaos said...

Oh Cindi, I'm so sorry. That's awful. Thanks for the reminder though. We have to take care of ourselves, if not for ourselves, then for our kids. Thank you.

Kim said...

I am so sorry for your brother's loss. I know he will find the strength to get through this.

I also suffer from HBP and I took control of my health about 1.5 months ago. I got a personal trainer! It's working. I haven't been back to my doctor for bloodwork and all that stuff but the weight is coming off. Thanks for the PSA. Good luck on WW. We can work through this together.

Darlene said...

That is just so sad for the children. I will keep them in my prayers.

I definitely need to get on the exercise and eating better bandwagon...thanks for the reminder.

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