Weekend before last, my husband and I went to the ocean, along with our grandson and my mother-in-law. It was a wonderful trip. We were there for just two nights. The first day, a major storm blew in and we were able to watch the huge waves crash on the shore. The second day, the sun was out and it was warm enough that we spent the day on the beach in short sleeves. It was a great trip, but I missed Mom so much. The beach was her favorite place, and this was my first beach trip without her.

When we got home, there was a large box on the front porch. I was so surprised when I opened it, and it contained a gift basket from Caregiving.com. In it was a sympathy card, and lots of goodies. One thing it contained was a scrapbook album. The crazy thing was, that was an item on my shopping list for that week! I don’t know who’s doing the gift baskets, but whoever it is, they know Mom’s and my favorite things. There was a musical theme (I play piano), and gardening items, seashore stuff, chocolate…pretty much all of our favorite things in a basket. It was obvious that much thought and love went into that gift. I was really touched, and the timing was perfect.

I went to see my sister a few days later, and we shared the basket while looking at the scrapbook pages, filled with pictures of Mom and our family, that I had compiled for Mom’s memorial service. My sister hadn’t had a good opportunity to look at them, other than for a few minutes at the memorial service. It was a really special time for us, and she asked me to express her thanks for the basket, too.

Thank you, Caregiving.com and Denise…for all that you do. What a blessing you’ve been in our lives.