Grief and A Look Back

I am grieving today and I need to vent.  Uncle Tommy is on morphine now as he can no longer swallow the pain pills.  He has been a valant warrior all his life.  Uncle Tommy served in WW1.  He had three sons.

Eddie was older than me by a few years, dead now, Vietnam veteran. 

Paul is the son in Tulsa, Black Beret, 26 years of very impressive service.

Ray is my sister’s age, Vietnam veteran, funny, postman.  Married a Mexican lady he met in California while in the service and has three girls.  He is at Uncle Tommy’s home now in Georgia and is traveling through Tennessee to see a lot of my other cousins, visiting his parents, then returning to his home in California.

Aunt Nell is my mother’s sister.  The only living of seven siblings.  She will be 90 in November. She was an English school teacher and together they owned a cabinet shop for years, then both retired and ran the charity store out of their church for years over years.

Good lives, dedicated workers, believers and true Southerners. 

A VBS from Long Ago

July 19, 2012

The last day of our Vacation Bible School is over now.  Walter & I worked as assistants in the Pre-School arts and crafts area.  We had an average of 44 children each night for five nights.  With every session, we helped the children create a craft and reinforced the Bible stories they had heard in the lesson portion of their program.  Tonight the children were happy and anxiously awaiting the closing ceremony where each age group comes to the stage and sings a song they have been rehearsing all week.

Each grade was excited to perform.  While the three year olds were on stage, my mind traveled back about 37 years.  I remember so well a Vacation Bible School program so long ago.  I was a young wife and mother.  My husband and I had enrolled our 3-year old Patricia in a Vacation Bible School program and we had come to see her final day.  She was excited and so serious.  I tried to get her to lie back in my lap but she would have nothing of it.  She was very focused on all that was going on around her.  When her group was called, she confidently strode onto the stage and repeated the words she had practiced all week.

She was flawless in her delivery.  Patricia stood tall and proudly performed her part.  Then she came down from the stage and cuddled into my arms.  Within a few minutes she was fast asleep.  Both of us were so very proud of her.  She had steeled herself to do the best job possible and she had done just that.  I was proud of her that evening and still am proud of my sweet girl today.

The faces in the audience tonight told me that several other young parents were experiencing that same joy that I had felt lo those many years ago in a small church with a satisfied, sleeping girl against my chest.  God is good!

Grandfather's Handiwork Lives On

July 9, 2012

We had a whirlwind weekend.  These cute grandchildren came Friday night after we got off from work.



Alijah, Brandon & Colin ready to go to the birthday party

 They played hard that night with all the toys we have amassed over eleven years of having grandchildren.  We ended the evening watching Journey 2 – The Mysterious Island.  It is always fun for me when they say, “This is so funny!” or “Watch this part where that happens!”  Afterwards they all came upstairs and slept on a pallet at the foot of our bed.  Now we have a large house and the children could easily sleep in a bedroom, but they never want to.  So we let them sleep in our room.  Somehow that is also a comfort to us as we can peek on them during the night and still stay in our bed.  Does anyone else check several times throughout the night to see if they are still breathing?  I used to watch over my sleeping baby and thank God she was alive and well.  Grandchildren bring that back into your life again.  I am so thankful for these wonderful people in my life.

My grandfather was a blacksmith and a deputy sheriff.  This rocking chair was a gift to me when I was a baby.

When I was little my grandfather made me a wooden chair.  It was sturdily built and best of all it was just my size.  I have loved it since I have had it.  Alijah found it this weekend and made it his own.  Every time I looked into the living room, he was happily rocking in that little chair.  It was the perfect size for him too.  As I reflected on my grandfather this weekend, I realized he would have been so happy that his granddaughter’s grandson was so attached to his handiwork.

Total relaxation after playing with three of his cousins and his brother

I have to include this picture of Alijah asleep on the couch.  It looks like he is camouflaged into the couch since there is plaid on him and the furniture.  We had two other cousins join us for Saturday play until the early evening.  These cousins really play well with each other so watching them is a joy.

Sunday when I dropped Alijah off at the church nursery he had a small short resistance.  But that was all over before I left the hallway.  So why was I the one in tears for a few minutes? 

After church, after McDonalds, after packing the entire trunk with their things, I drove them to a birthday party where they swam and then went home with their parents.  Once again, that sadness washed over me.  Well goodbye until the next weekend.  I love you boys.

Radiation & Sunburn

July 6, 2012

My sister, Jean, has begun radiation treatments as part of her breast cancer recovery.  She is to do five days a week for eight weeks.  They began this week.  One day of her treatment, the radiation machine broke.  She had to come back to the facility after the repair team from Knoxville had corrected the problem.  She says neither the chemotherapy nor the radiation is worse than the other.  She just goes through with the treatment and tries to rest well afterwards.  The fatigue is a constant for her.

Additionally the treatments have left her more sensitive to the sun than ever before.  Both of us are fair skinned and have always been advised to stay out of the sun, which we pretty much have adhered to for years.  On the way home after one of these treatments, Jean and her husband stopped for a few groceries.  She stayed in the car as the fatigue was overcoming her.  She felt something above her knee.  When she pulled her slacks up to investigate why she was feeling a tingle, she found that she had sunburned through the thick fabric of her pants.  Also she had burned the upper portion of her arm.  She will really have to be vigilant about using sunscreen and avoiding long term exposure. 

The drought has affected the Sevierville area just as much as other areas within Tennessee now.  They have record heat this week with a 106 degree reading.  She mainly stays inside and enjoys the air conditioner. 

Her doctor told her to nap for ½ to 1 hour after each radiation treatment to help relieve the fatigue factor.  Jean promised that she would do that. 

I have a C-PAP sleep machine fitting on July 13^th and I am also hoping for the same prescription.   I told Walter that I plan on taking a day off from work the day after I receive the machine to just catch up on sleep that I am missing.  The technicians tell me that your body holds on to sleep deprivation for about two weeks.  According to my estimates, I need about 24 hours of back sleep now!

Seniors Everywhere I Look

July 4, 2012

Happy Fourth of July!

Okay, I get it - I am recognized as a senior citizen almost everywhere I go.  This morning my husband and I went grocery shopping on the one day a month that our grocery store gives 10% off on all purchases made by seniors.  Not only were there three other couples there that we knew but they were older than us.  So why were we the only couple trying to decide if we could get by with only six bottles of juice before we got to buy again at the discounted amounts next month? 

When we got home we made Rice Crispy treats and bacon wrapped pineapple to take to an Independence Day party held at a friend's home.  She had about fifty guests of varying ages.  We were truly not the oldest by a wide shot.  Her ninety-six year old father was there having a great time.  Several people were in their seventies.  They gathered us around them and we shared stories and laughed.  But after about two hours of partying, we told everyone goodnight because we had to work tomorrow. They kept the partty going on.  Bummer!

We watched the fireworks on the television while wearing our bedclothes.  Most other years we were right in the thick of things watching them from a blanket in the park or serving hotdogs from the Lions Club pavillion.  Those days may be behind us now.  I hope not.  A fine concession was the television we watched fireworks on is a 73" one.  No glasses or hearing aids needed to enjoy the show.