Mama Update: (Day 23) New Beginnings

Jan 2, 2023 update for Bonnie Spencer Kitchens:

New Beginnings

On December 11, 2022 at 9:00am, my mom’s neighbor, extremely concerned, texts me a pic of an ambulance in mama & Wayne’s driveway. I immediately text my mom, “Everything ok?” And seconds later Wayne calls me to tell me they’re rushing my unresponsive mother to St. Mary’s with a possible stroke.

Everything was NOT ok.

22 days ago one of the coolest, smartest, fun-est, dramatic-est, caring-est people on the planet had a massive stroke damaging the majority of the left side of her brain. We thought we lost her forever. A few days of anguish. Lots of tears. Prayers upon prayers. And then, already a cancer survivor, my mom became a stroke survivor. Whew.

Some people are just tough, y’all.

It is now time for new beginnings.

We celebrated Christmas differently in Shepherd Center, but we celebrated together. We were overjoyed to have this new beginning.

Mom & Wayne rang in the New Year differently, but happy to be alive and together. It’s a time for new beginnings.

In just the first (holiday-interrupted) week at Shepherd, mama is standing a little with a special walker, she’s participating in cognitive games and some competitive Connect Four, and she’s communicating little bits, clearly saying “oh” with different inflections, saying “I” repetitively as if to make a sentence, and even singing a little.

It’s a day for new beginnings.

[Quick aside about the singing because it shows mama’s personality:]

Jay was singing “Happy Birthday” over and over to her. It was part of the prescribed therapy, not just torture, I promise. But she was getting tired of it. I mean, cmon, my brother singing Happy Birthday over and over and over..you get the picture. So, she exasperatedly and sarcastically SINGS the freaking song at double the speed just to make him stop. That’s a fun new beginning.

New beginnings can be scary because you don’t know what to expect.

But new beginnings can be exciting for the same reason.

New beginnings come whether we want them to or not.

Our family is embarking on a season of new beginnings. Yesterday, Alonda and I were listing all of the certain, and the potential, new beginnings coming up this year, and they’re too many to recount here.

My assumption is that you are experiencing (or will soon be experiencing) some new beginnings too.

It’s a little frightening. It’s a little exciting.

But it’s probably time.

Now is a good time to seek God and hear what His new beginning is for you.

Now is a good time to seek the wisdom of your friends, family, trusted advisors, to weigh your new beginning options.

After seeking God & wise counsel, now is the time to have faith and make the first step on the path of your new beginning.

2023: the year of new beginnings for the Bailey/Kitchens family..and for you and your family too.

Happy New year, y’all.

Go Dawgs!

Thank you for the continued prayers for my mom and Wayne. We truly believe they are working.

And if you’d like to explore what a new beginning could look like in Christ, I recommend this short blog post in the link.