Seven Years Later

My most recent post was in August. 

It is Crazy how fast time goes. 

Seven years ago today, I sat by my daddy's bedside as his body shut down

 and he took his last breaths on earth. 

We knew it was coming. 

We'd spent the 2 weeks before watching his body shut down.

We planned Hospice visits. 

We cooked meals and made a LOT of coffee.

We entertained visitors.

We deep cleaned momma's kitchen,

and we cried in my sister's camper.

We tried our best to mentally prepare for what was coming.

  As much as it hurt to lose him, we knew that he was suffering,

and by letting go of his battle, he would be healed in Heaven.

Much of what I know about how to live, I learned from him. 

He was a quiet, kind hearted man. 

He liked to laugh.

He played prank jokes on others.

(I was a common target.)

He worked hard.

No.  Really. 

He WORKED HARD.

Every. Single. Day.

He gave his best to everything he did.

He loved us girls as if we were his own.

When I was 5 years old, my momma met that ornery guy. 

Mom was working in the tavern which was owned by my grandparents.

One night, he walked in, and my Granny said,

 "Larry Jo, are you looking for a mother in law?"

His response was classic....  "Why?  Are you available?" 

 I just think that is hilarious.

He met momma on that night in November, and they were married in February. 

At the time of their meeting, he was engaged to be married to another lady.

Her name was Trudy,

and my sister and I thought it was fantastic

that he was choosing all three of us over Trudy,

a woman we'd never met or seen before. 

Any how...back to the real story....

The four of us become a family instantly. 

They took us on their honeymoon with them.

We went on vacation after vacation together. 

They never went anywhere without us. 

We were his girls.

Tonight, I celebrate the life of my sweet daddy.

I've looked at old pictures.

I've laughed at him for having an opossum for a pet.

(yes, it's true)

I've looked at pictures of him holding our babies at their baptism ceremonies.

I've been reminded of how much time he spent with all of us.

We've watched the video that was played at his funeral. 

More than anything, today I have mourned our loss.

I mourn the fact that my kids are missing out on making new memories with him.

I mourn the empty place at the dinner table at family meals.

I mourn because I don't see him walking in my front door for a visit.

I miss his ornery giggle, the twinkle in his eyes.

I miss his deep belly laugh

and seeing him lay in the middle of the floor to watch tv.

I miss telling him all about the kids' activities and school stuff.

I miss his crispy edged pancakes...fried perfectly in oil.

I miss his empty Dt. Coke cans sitting everywhere after his visits.

I miss many, many things about him, but

Most of all, I miss his smile, his comforting hugs, and his friendship.

He was an incredible man, full of integrity and goodness. 

Heaven is a better place because he is there.

Tonight, I am eternally grateful for the thirty years which I spent getting to learn from him.

I am a better person because he was, and continues to be, part of my life.

Being his daughter certainly has made life delicious!

I saw it on Pinterest first, but...

Because someone we love is in heaven, we have a little bit of Heaven in our home!



1st Day of School!

Summer has come to an end for us.
We all know that when one thing ends another begins!
What a beginning!!!

These are pictures of our babies on the first day of school!
Courtney is starting 8th grade.
Corbin is starting his Junior year of high school.

And they are standing in front of
"Fernando"
a.k.a.
"Alfalfa"

As of Thursday I am semi-retired from my Taxi Service. 
Corbin drives them to school and brings them home from practices.
Sigh.
Sniff.
Tears.

 

This is a picture of the sweet treats my

Fabulous First Graders brought to me

for the 1st Day of school.

I'm in love with these little people. 

(even before they brought sweet treats)

I can't believe the year has begun!

 

Firsts.

First day of school

First day of riding to school by myself in 12 years.

(Seriously, that's CRAZY!!!)

First graders.

 

Firsts are delicious.

Enjoy all things new this season, my friends!!

Our 1st Grade Classroom 2014-2015

These are some pictures of our classroom.

 

We spend so much time within these 4 walls.

I love to use coordinating colors throughout.

 

This year's building theme is

"CJ Bulldogs Arrrr a Treasure!"

I kept some of my sock monkeys.

There are a few here and there. 

I simply added pirate hats and eye patches.

 

 

Summer Vacation in Pictures

Our summer vacation was a blur!

It went so fast.

I still can't hardly believe it's over.

So, here are some pictures,

randomly placed,

and not in chronological order.

 

 

I finally did it.

I let go of my trusty wall phone.

We cancelled our land-line phone.

It was a sad day.

I still can't believe we did it.

 

(Is it bad that I miss sitting and

 visiting on the phone

while playing with the chord?)

 

I can't believe it, but Corbin had his 1st semester as a college student.

He took 2 classes this summer.

 

Cousins at the 4th of July celebration

 

Corbin got this new ride!

Ford Fusion

 

We took the kids on a camping weekend at the pond.

We picked blackberries, cooked hotdogs and s'mores,

and slept in the pop up.  It was a terrific weekend.

We made lots of incredible memories!!

 

 

 

There were several Starbucks stops this summer.

 

Amy and I met for our birthday lunch.

My baby sister joined the 40 club!

 

Did we get enough fireworks??

 

 

Cutie Pie

 

Crab hunting in Florida

 

Friends

 

Getting ready to leave for vacation:

Our caravan met and started the drive from here!!

 

Good little travelers.

It is always fun to road trip with these two.

 

Transylvania???

EEEK!

 

Simply enjoying the day on the beach.

 

The view from our deck.

 

The donut cart.

We walked 4 1/2 miles round trip to get donuts here.

(well...I say "We," but I meant almost everybody.)

 

 

Oh my!  We found this giant Blue Crab.

I still can't believe I held it.

It had pinched a pair of goggles and was NOT letting go!

 

Just relaxing.

 

Friends

 

Friends!

 

 

My People!

I'm so blessed to belong to this family.

Incredible Summer Bliss

Swimming

Walking

Day trips

Lunch out

(That one is huge for teachers!)

Sleeping in until 6:00

Sipping coffee from a real mug on the deck as the sun comes up

First camping trips

Feeding humming birds

Rummage sales

Porch sitting in the evening

Farmers market foods

Gardening

Watering flowers

Pretty green grass that turns brown and crispy

Seeing the bottom of the laundry basket-almost daily!!

Sports camps

Grilling dinner and eating before 8:00 pm

Shopping

Time with family and friends

Birthdays

Time to refresh, reflect, and rejuvenate as a teacher

-as a mom

-as a wife

-as a person

Time to clean closets and junk drawers

Family vacation

Late night trips out for ice cream

Reading books for fun!!!!

(Even my kids love that one)

Time for family

Time for friends

Time for books and crafts and mending socks!!

School supply ads

New crayons, glue, markers, and pencils for the new school year

All good things must come to an end,

But....

With the end of summer comes a new school year

A fresh start

A new curriculum

Some new faces

I'm not quite ready to give up our vacation just yet.

I'm getting close, though.

We have three weeks and  two days before school starts again. 

 Until then, I will soak up as much summer vacation fun as possible

Summer vacation is as delicious as it is blissful!

I hope you are able to find some bliss during these last weeks of summer vacation, my friends.

Paying Respect

Late last night I found out that two very special people had passed away.

The first was an older gentleman from the church which I attended as a child/teenager.

He and his wife would have been happily married for 65 years in August.  

His name is Earl.
 

The second was a lifetime friend of my Daddy's. 

They grew up together.
They goofed around and laughed together.
They were blessed to call each other true friends.

His name was Raymond.

Raymond's visitation was before Earl's early in the afternoon.

I left our home and drove two and a half hours to his visitation.

While driving, I was sad to think about how quickly he lost his battle with cancer.
(It was just 3 weeks from the time he found out until he passed away.)

My heart was at ease, though, when I thought of Daddy and Raymond catching up in Heaven.

I stopped to get a water at a Casey's store on my way.  

As I was making a dash down the candy aisle,

my Daddy's favorite chocolate covered peanuts jumped out at me, and I had to smile.  

They were Casey's brand, and he ate them a LOT.

I bought them. 

I also bought a lottery ticket because Daddy would also have done that.

Sometimes I get my $2 back from a ticket.

Well, as luck would have it, or not, 

the chocolate peanuts were NOT in the least bit yummy, 

and I did not win the lottery.  

I ate every single peanut, and I talked to my Daddy until the bag was empty.

Then a song came on the radio which assured me that he and God were with me, 

and that I would be okay while I was at the visitations.  

(Sometimes they are harder than others.....)

When I hugged Raymond's sister and told her who I was,
she just smiled really big, hugged me again, and said, (grab a tissue) 

"Just before Raymond passed, he opened his eyes and said,"

( ....got the tissue? )
 

"Oh look.  It's Larry."
I know...tears.
Me too.
 

My daddy met his buddy as he transitioned from his earthly body into Heaven.  

I've read stories.  

I've heard stories of people seeing Jesus.

I know He is real, and I also knew that Daddy was in Heaven.

I just can't tell you how reassuring it was to not only know that a friendly face met Raymond, 

but also that it was my sweet, ornery, loving Daddy who was there for him.

God is good.

At Earl's visitation, I saw many people I knew from my childhood.

(My pediatrician, elders from the church, 

some of my high school teachers and even a few of their parents, 

as well as many friends)

When I talked to Earls wife, she said how happy it would have made him to know I was there. 

She couldn't believe I was there.

She said that I was like their daughter.  

Wait.

Rewind.

What?
 
Yep.
She said it again.

"You were our daughter, and we love you!"

I had no idea.

I mean... I admired them.

I loved them.

They were happily married.

They were active in church.

They respected each other and had a happy life.

Their daughter lived away and was such a sweet and successful girl.

They were always very kind to me.

I. Had. No. Idea.

I didn't know.

Oh boy, how I wish I had known how strongly they felt about me.

I have thought of them often throughout the years,

But I always just smiled and kept on doing my thing.
Apparently that was a nudge for me to keep in touch.
I should have known.

I should have picked up a pen and wrote them a note

Or picked up the phone and called them.

Today I was reminded of how important it is to tell people how you feel.

We must take time to say thank you.
We MUST take time to tell people how important they are in our lives.

As for paying last respects?
The grieving families helped ease my own grief.
I just THOUGHT I was there to support them.
It's so backwards.
How did that even happen?
I learned so much in just a few hours.

I'm on a mission now.
The mission is to appreciate the small stuff.
The little things are the important things in life!

Life...is delicious.
Live everlasting is even MORE delicious.
I'm excited to know that one more friend is there...
waiting for me on the other side!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is a really cool day in the history of "us."

 

On this day in history,

my Mr. stole one of my rings in order to ask me to be his girl.

 

I said yes.

(I had no choice.  My daddy bought the ring which was stolen!)

 

The rest truly is history.

 

Today happens to be the 27th anniversary of us.

This guy has been my boyfriend for 27 years!

In the crazy, hectic day to day life, sometimes we find ourselves going through the motions of raising a family, working full time jobs and then following the kids to events.

Well, today, I'm stopping to think about the blessings he brings every day.

 

 

 

 

He's been my best friend.

 

He has seen me at my best and my worst.

 

He has held me when I was happy.

 He has held me when I was so heartbroken that all I could do was cry.

 

He spoils me rotten.

By that, I mean he brings me chocolates,

changes light bulbs,

dusts the ceiling fans,

kills spiders and bugs,

and scrubs the toilets!

 

This guy is hilarious.

He knows how to make me laugh!

 

He supports me.

He doesn't get upset when I pro-craft-inate.

(Yes...there are many days that I do no housework because of craft projects.  heehee!)

Did I mention that he brings me chocolate?

 

He takes great care of me.

He goes to the grocery store  - sometimes very late at night -

for the milk/bread/coffee, and he even brings back chocolates.

 

He is a terrific dad to our kids!

I can't even begin to tell you all about that.

 

He shares my history.

He's been right there - by my side - through it all.

High School

College

Raising babies

Chasing kids

Losing my Daddy

Job changes

Plan changes

Highs and Lows of life

This list could go on and on.

 

 

I'm so very lucky.

I certainly don't deserve to be this happy or to be loved so much.

 

I am proud to have been his girl for that many years.

...and just for the record,

our wedding anniversary is just 2 short weeks away.

 

That's another beautiful post all in itself.

 

LIFE is delicious.
Have a terrific day, my friends!