Back to Reality

Last week, after a long illness and a lot of pain, Eric's stepmom went to Heaven.  Before Robin assumed the role of Nanny to Kyle, Dean, Corbyn, Whitney, and Callie, she was honored to be a mom to Lynzie, Jake, Eric, Daniel, Parker, and Dawson.  Robin LOVED being a mom.  She never called herself "step"mom, and she corrected others when they referred to Eric and Daniel as her "stepsons".  She loved all the kids as her own. 

More than anything, Robin LOOOVED being a grandmother! She was the kind of Grandma who gets down on the floor and PLAYS with her grandkids.  My friend Mandy made a video of pictures of Robin for us to play at the memorial on Thursday, and Mandy noted that, of all the hundreds of pics I sent her, Robin had a baby in her arms in MOST of them.  She just LOVED kids and had the BEST laugh. 

Robin wouldnt want her family here on Earth to mourn her loss.  She would want us to be happy for her now that she is pain-free for the first time in months, and she is dancing with the angels in Heaven with Jesus.  She will be just fine :) And because of her enthusiasm and committment to family, she left behind some amazing kids who really showed their faith and trust in God and their own committment to our family as we all rallied around Eric's dad, Gary, and put together a fitting memorial for Robin last week.

 Individually, throughout last week, we each ended up saying something about how amazing it was or how comforting it was or how FUN it was to be together as a family, despite the crummy circumstances.  Facebook status updates from cousins and aunts and uncles and sisters and brothers were all about how awesome our family is and how Robin would be so proud of the family she nurtured into loving, responsible, respectable people.

So while we will surely mis Robin and her laugh and her enthusiasm for Jesus and for life, we know that she prepared each of those kids to be a strong adult with good morals and values and a love for the most important blessing we've been given: Family. 

 I also think its sorta neat that Robin used to read the blog regularly, and now, instead of waiting for me to find the time to type an update and upload pics, she gets to sit above and watch life unfold.  It's hard when Whitney sees a picture of Robin and yells "NANNNYYY!" right now, but I love that Robin was an important woman in my daughter's life, and that, even at a young 18 months, Whitney recognizes her as someone worth knowing and loving.  Kids pick up on the signals adults give them.  And Whitney just knew Robin was someone to trust and love and share smiles with.  We wont let Whitney forget who Nanny was or what she believed in.

 Again, it was a really hard week watching Robin's children and brothers and sisters-in-laws and nieces and nephews and her loving husband Gary mourn the loss of a wonderful woman.  But I was continually reminded of something Robin told me YEARS ago that has ALWAYS stuck with me.  I was talking about how "lucky" I was to be marrying Eric or to be teaching a great class of kids or to be moving into a great neighborhood...coulda been anything. The point is, I was talking about how "i am SO LUCKY!", and RObin stopped me and said "There's nothing lucky about it.  You are BLESSED!"  And at the time I remember thinking "yep. youre right" and moving on to continue blabbing about how great life was shaping up.  But through the years, in good times and in bad, I have often been brought back to those words.  We are BLESSED.  God is good, allll the time.  And we are Blessed.

  
 Some pics from a sad, exhausting, uplifting, memorable, and blessed week with family:

A bunch of the girls got mani-pedis with blue nail polish, in honor of Robin's favorite color. 

Most of the Corgan/Bass families watching the video that my close girlfriend Mandy made for us.  Mandy worked long hours making it perfect and ensuring the best pics were included with songs chosen by the kids and friends.  I cant ever thank Mandy enough for the blessing she has been to our family, even from afar!

At the reception afterwards, a glimpse of the blue everyone wore to remember Robin. I think there were 400 people at the memorial.  We had to ask people to stop signing the memorial picture so we could get started! We woulda been there all day!

Whitney's favorite part of Uncle Joe's house...the piano! She did NOT want to stop banging on the keys!

Corbyn and the rest of the grandkids kept the ait light and silly after the somber morning.  Corbyn thought it was fun to do belly flops onto mommy, Lynzie. :)

Cant you just SEE the love?

Eric's dad signing the mat of the memorial picture the kids had made.  There was no more room to sign!

Eric's sister Lynzie and brother Jake

Eric and his Dad, Gary. My other friend Mandy made the blue ribbons that we handed out at the memorial.  She made 200 and they were all gone quickly.

Cuddles from the youngest grandchild, Callie. She looks JUST LIKE Robin, and like her grandma, she has the BEST laugh!

Robin's husband, kids, grandkids, and most of her nieces and nephews. We are so blessed!