When depression hits home....Don't answer the door~!

The past year has been one of great loss for our family. My husbands sister lost her home on Christmas Day to an explosion. Then their Grand Mother passed away. Shortly after she passed away her brother (their uncle) passed away also.

Followed by all of that drama. My beloved Pastor passed away also. When we got through all of this.
My oldest daughter had emergency surgery and we ended up baby sitting for our two grandsons ages 2 and one six weeks old.

We thought things would then settle down a little for us all. However, April decided then to act up and got herself placed in a Group Home with DHS.

Then our adopted son and his biological brother ended up in Jail. Followed by the announcement that we were going to be grandparents again in September.
My son's girl friend was pregnant.

I wanted to lock my self in my room and just cry.
But I didn't. I threw myself into our youngest daughter Angelas pathway and mutt led through all of the stress by helping her enjoy the summer.

In the back ground I have been dealing with my older sister who will not take her medicines correctly.
Who is missing her husband so much since his death (Pastor Don). She can hardly function through the day.

It was not until we were faced with loosing Granny Slayden, that I just felt over whelmed myself. My husbands last grandmother. The one who took care of him when his mom worked. Who has been a precious part of his life and ours.

What we all thought was just a three day stomach flu for her. Has ended up being multiple cancers. She has been in the hospital for 34 days. We have driven down state every weekend to be with his mother and to help with grandma. With each visit she has grown worse. This week we were told it is only a matter of time for her. Her body is shutting down.

Well this weekend We shut down too. For the first time in our marriage we both just shut the door and turned off the phone. We let the depression hit us.
But in a way we could handle it. We cried and held each other. We talked about the good old days in our past with the people we have lost and loved dearly.

We watched T.V. and ordered food in. We cleaned house and laid in bed until noon. We snuck out for a movie to see "Superman." We simply took time for US. Time that was very well needed and deserved. It is difficult trying to be the strong hold for several people at a time.

As Monday hit...it was back to work for my husband and I had to reluctantly turn the phones back on.
Which also meant the out side world would invade our weekend fortress. But today it is ok. Because we met the depression head on and we handled it in a way that both of us could de-stress with.

Sometimes when depression is all around you and there seems to be no out let. You have to make a decision and lock the door. Don't open it to the stress or the things that are trying to bring you down.

Set aside family time and make it exactly that. Time for each other. To talk. To hug. To vent.
To remember. Then to move on.

We all have day's when we feel like staying in bed.
Especially if you have emotionally challenged children.

We can not stop Granny from dying soon or from the grief we will feel at her loss. We can not do anything about our son and his bad choices. We can only welcome a new baby into the world and shelter it and hope for the best.

We can not take away anyone else's sadness or pain from loss. We can however encourage them and help them stay on track.

When there is nothing else we can do...We can watch God move and life work it's way out on it's own. But for now...We have dealt with the depression by locking the door....and spending a well deserved weekend alone, being home.