On Wednesday morning I got a call that my friend and former Dordt roommate, Sarah (Mulder) Ribbens, had passed away unexpectedly. I am still in shock and can't quite fully grasp that this has really happened. I don't know all of the details, nor do they matter, but what I do know is that Sarah is now enjoying being a mother in heaven. I know how excited I am to be a new mom here on earth, but just imagine how much joy you would have getting to be a new mom in heaven. This is the aspect my friends and I have decided to focus on, rather than the sadness and confusion we are also feeling.
Sarah lived in Chicago with her husband and was one of the most competitive and driven, caring, and crazy smily people I know. I cant even pretend to explain what kind of work she did but I know it has to do with wealth management and portfolios. She was also working on her Master's Degree in Business at the University of Chicago. Even in the craziness of work and school, she managed to come back to the area just last month for the baby shower that my friends threw for me. I was so excited that she was able to make the trip, and even more thankful now since that would be the last time I would see her. I "spoke" with her just last Friday over text message and she was so excited to hear any updates about the twins. I know she enjoyed reading this blog and told me she had a recurring "appointment" set on her work calendar each week as a reminder to check if we had updated.
The last several years we have made it a tradition to head to her parents place at Round Lake on the 4th of July. Her and Ben would come back from Chicago and a couple of girls would meet her there. We would lay out on the lake and tan ourselves silly. Sarah was the kind of person that even if you didnt talk to too often, you could always pick up right where you left off. Definately a great friend.
Saturday morning we had to say our final goodbye to our friend. Something I hope I don't have to do again for a long time. The last time that I was in this church was almost 6 years ago-when I was a bridesmaid in her wedding. Please pray for her husband-Ben, both sets of parents, siblings, the rest of the family, and friends. They have a long road ahead of them that I can't even fathom and will definately covet our prayers. Sarah, you will be missed.
Here are a couple college throwback pics: (Sarah, Valerie, Joni, me):
Our B4 Christmas card picture: (Sarah, Joni, me, Jeanna, Val, and Kari)
And all of us on an air mattress while visiting Sarah and Val on their semester in Chicago: (Val, Joni, Sarah, me, Becky, and Kari)
This week I also had my Centering group. I am now measuing at 40 weeks! Turns out I am only 33 weeks, so the picture below would give you a good idea what I would look like full term if I was caring one child. We briefly disucssed what time frame we were thinking and she said we are still on track to hope for 38 weeks. This would put us at the July 12 (Kevin's birthday) time frame, but she was going to double check which days she was on call so we could schedule for one of those days. Crazy that this is only a short 4-5 weeks away. I am sure we will know more as we get closer and as I start to go in more frequently. Our goal is to have everything ready to go by Saturday... just in case :)
Have a great week everyone!
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