Ciancio Family: Death has been swallowed up in victory

It's been a long yet short summer. As I shared in an earlier post this summer the kids and I started out this summer by visiting family in Maryland. I knew when I saw my grandmother in the rehab hospital before I left it very well could be the last time I saw her. Back in October she broke her hip and fell. She had worked really hard and eventually was strong enough to only need a cane to walk. Then she suddenly got worse again. After a little while the doctor realized the screw from her reconstruction surgery had come out and she would need to have hip replacement surgery. She had the surgery mid May, but did not enter a rehab hospital for about 3 weeks following surgery. Once in the rehab hospital she wasn't really interested in rehab. She told my mom and each of her sisters that she wanted to stop dialysis and that she was ready to be in heaven. Once she made this decision mom and her sisters decided to bring her home. After she was home for about a week our family drove up to Maryland. It was a long 16 hours on the road but the kids did great. I don't know if by the time I got there if she really understood I was ever there, but I was glad to see her again and thankful I was able to help her in her final days even if it was just getting her a sip of coke. It was truly humbling to see first hand the way my mom and aunts cared for their mother in her final days. It is heartbreaking to see your loved ones suffer, but we are comforted with the promise made to us by God through his son. I can't imagine dealing with the death of a family member or loved one and not being assured of their and my own salvation. When she passed I came across a verse that I felt very fitting. It is from the seventh chapter of Ecclesiastes verse 1: "A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth." What an amazing thing to think about! Of course with death the ones you leave behind will mourn your loss, but for you your day of death is better than your day of birth. Your birthday you enter a broken world of sin, but on your day of death you will enter the kingdom of heaven. A perfect place that we cannot even fathom! Later when Aunt Mary was looking through Mom Mom's bible, Mom Mom had highlighted that verse, making it all that much more special. Here is one of my favorite pictures of Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop. It was taken at Sunset (one of their favorite restaurants) on Saint Patrick's Day 2007.

Another on of my favorite pictures with Mom Mom is this one taken at her 80th birthday party. 4 generations.

I feel like I have hardly been home all summer and my break is almost over. The kids both start back full time this week and I have to work 2 days this week, then start back full time on Tuesday of next week. We work 9 days before we have students.
After the viewing and graveside service we did all head down to Myrtle Beach for our annual summer vacation. We had a great time and it flew by, but after leaving town early, we were glad to be back home after being gone for about 3 weeks straight. Here are some pictures of us from the beach.

Jack worn out :)