19 Years

Wow! Time does fly.  Today marks the 19th anniversary of the first day I spent without my "Hon"(my nickname for Sam Thomas, my husband who died from prostate cancer).  I remember waking up, seeing the other side of the bed vacant and aching.  My house was full of Brandon's friends who had spent the night, so jumping into breakfast was necessary.  As the day wore on, I could feel Sam's palpable presence around every corner.  Brandon and I had to plan the ceremony for his funeral and pick out clothes for his body as well as a casket--not fun things to do, believe me.

And of course, thankfully, the phone was ringing every other minute with condolences.  Thankfully one of the friends, I think it was Donjaleigh, was there to answer the phone.  The next few hours were a flood of decisions and duties. All the while, worrying about Brandon and his feelings.

We could have never made it without God's help and the help of our friends.  Thanks for all of you still!  We loved and continue to love Sam.

Last night, we went to Olive Garden, and Ella wanted to know what Poppy (her name for Sam) would order and what he would eat for dessert.  I am so thankful that Brandon has told his children stories about Sam and created the name Poppy for him.  He stays alive in those stories (some of which are humdingers!).

Ronnie Lorenz (he and his wife are long-time friends) called last night and remembered with me.  Thanks , Ronnie and Darla--love you!

Tuesdays

I am leading the devotional each Tuesday at Ladies' Class for the next six weeks.  I am trying to teach and model the spiritual disciplines of silence and meditation in the 5 minutes I am given.
I have them relax in their chairs ("melt into the chair) with everything off their laps, relax their neck, face and shoulders, and put their hands on their thighs. We began the first Tuesday by turning the lights off, playing instrumental "healing" music, and meditating on the word Peace.  Today, we followed up on Josh's Sunday sermon by meditating on the Matt. 5:14 scripture You are the Light of the World (all work is sacred).  Eventually, I will wean them off the music and help them to just sit in silence and listen for the voice of God.  It seems to be going well, and many have said they wish we could do this in church.  We Do Need More Moments of Silence in Church, don't we?

Today I accidently turned into the Brentwood Methodist parking lot.  As I drove through it on the way to Hallmark, the leaves were doing their lovely slow dance from the trees to the ground.  Beautiful!

Marine Band

I went with my small group to see the Marine Band perform at Lipscomb last night.  It was excellent!  And besides that, it was free.

How can anyone avoid tearing up  when the "Stars and Stripes Forever" is played or when an entire audience sings "God Bless America" right after all those who served in the U. S. forces had just stood up?  Very emotional.  I wonder, are we losing that in all our "political" battles?  Does anyone care anymore?  Or do we just feed off of past battles won?

Band music brings back lots of memories--I actually remembered the notes I played in the Hamlin High School Pied Piper Band when we played "Semper Fidelis", while the Marine Band played it.  Sousa marches are my favorites.

The Three Musketeers

Haven't blogged in a while--I've just been living life.  Mainly visiting doctors trying to find out what is wrong with my legs.

For the record, after an MRI and a EMG, the finding is that I have diabetic polyradiculo neuropathy which can be helped by neurontin and keeping my diabetes under control (which I carefully do).  But looks like I will walk with a cane for the rest of my life.  But, as Brandon says, the main word is WALK.  And I am very thankful my back shows no problem.  However, the triple whammy of the neuropathy, arthritis, and bad knees still don't make for a graceful standing up and sitting down, getting in and out of a car, etc.  Still I take the diagnosis as positive.

I got to keep the 3 Musketeers this past weekend--we had a good time--they painted rocks to line a small flower bed and an old sign I had on my fence---but the most memorable  event was  the paint fight that followed.  It was an acrilic washable paint thankfully.  It did not come out of Sam's hair easily, however.  They washed my car (I have the cleanest car in the county) too.  Maddie was a trooper and a very hard worker.  I hope she keeps this trait as she grows up.  Sam just loved the water, and Ella was an expert at cleaning the very dirty tire covers.  It was a great time, but my house is on disaster drill.  Every room calls out for a general cleaning.  It was a great time, however.

I loved the time, and I love them!!!