Abigail (my niece), my Mom, and Carrington

It has been 6 months since we said goodbye to my Mom.  She went to Heaven on May 5.  Our family misses her very much.  Since it is November and we have Thanksgiving coming up, I thought that I would list some things that I am thankful for about my precious Mom.

1.  I am thankful that she loved her family passionately, and taught my sisters and I to cherish our families  and to be "workers at home".

2.  I am thankful that she was a Christian, taught us about the Lord, and took us to church every Sunday.

3.  I am thankful that she made every holiday so fun and special, for her children and then for her grandchildren.

4.  I am thankful that she told us so many stories of growing up in the South in the 50's.  She had an awesome childhood!  :)

5.  I am thankful that she was a great cook and taught us that you NEVER take store-bought food to a pot-luck.

6.  I am thankful for all of the beautiful things she made for my children, from costumes, to dolls, to a small quilt.  They are special treasures.

7.  I am thankful that she was always interested in what was going on in our lives.  About 4 days before she died, she saw Clayton doing some karate moves in her hospital room, and she had a big smile on her face watching him.

8.  I am thankful that whenever my daughter was lonely, she could pick up the phone and call Grandma.

9.  I'm thankful that she saved babies from abortion through her work at a crisis pregnancy center for almost 20 years.

10.  I'm thankful that she was so much fun to be with and talk to.


I love you Mom!

Random Pictures With My Dad

My Uncle Herman and my Dad

My Dad with my Aunt Louise, his sister-in-law.

My Aunt Thelma's old house.  Lots of memories here.  :)

Me being a dork and posing on the train tracks behind my Aunt Thelma's old house.

This post is for my 2 sisters.  I recently took my Dad to see his brother, and then I took him to the town where he grew up.  The picture of Carrington and my Dad is in front of the church where my Dad went when he was a little boy.  He was baptized while attending that church, but in a nearby lake and not inside the church.  He was about 9 years old.
The bottom picture is of a house that my Dad lived in as a little boy.  I had a picture of another house on here, but I accidentally deleted it!
The second to the last picture of the trees is the location of a childhood prank my Dad has told us about numerous times.  There used to be a sidewalk there, and it was across the street from a big Victorian house that my Dad lived in.  He and his brother Herman, and a cousin, set up a dummy that they had dressed up and put it on the sidewalk to scare people.
The third picture from the bottom is of my cousin David with my Dad.  They are standing in front of a ball field that my Dad used to play at as a teenager.  He has told us stories of his brother-in-law E.W.  who also played baseball there and could have been a great ball player if he hadn't been killed in WW II.

Picnic at the Park

The Beach

Trip to South Georgia

We've had a lot of rain lately.

My husband Warren with his Mom.

My kids with their Papa.

My sweet mother-in-law and I.

I just love old buildings!

South Georgia  :o)

We finally made it down to my in-law's house recently.  They are very sweet people and it's always relaxing to visit them, except for the gnats.  :o)

4th of July at Grandma's House

My Mom was greatly missed.  She was always so good at making holidays and parties special, and loved it when all of her family came to visit.

Abigail, Carrington, and Lydia working in Grandma's kitchen.

Lily Kate, the birthday girl, turned 3 two days after the 4th.

Most of the girl cousins:  Mariah, Carrington, Madeline, Lydia, Abigail, and McKenzie. 

My sisters, Kellie, Marcy, and I.

My niece McKenzie surprised my sister Kellie with this beautiful baby blanket.  She made it out of some of my Mom's material.  Here she is showing it to my Dad.



We let the kids pick out some little trinkets that belonged to my Mom, starting with the youngest and going up.  It was so cute to see what they picked out.  They all miss my Mom very much.  She was the best Grandma!

Lydia and I made this lovely fruit basket.  Isn't it patriotic????  :o)



Spontaneity

One night we were traveling home from my Mom and Dad's house.  Yes, it will always be "Grandma's house".  We were driving along and saw this little fair in a small town.  The rides were all lit up.  My kids said, "Can we stop and just ride one ride Mom?"  I didn't hesitate to say yes.  I love to see my kids having fun.  They got to ride the bumper cars.  If I had to do it over again, I would let them ride another ride.  :o)  My Mom was fun, and I am inspired more than ever to do fun things with my kids.  I don't have fond memories of my childhood because we had an immaculate house.  My Mom wasn't a stickler about the house.  My fond memories are of the fun holidays and family outings we had.  And so........I will not stress out about the numerous boxes of family pictures that are stacked up in my office or the fact that Clayton's room needs painting really badly.  Right now we are having a crazy, busy, stressful time but I am going to try to be positive and make the best of it for my children.  My circumstances are rather out of my control right now, but I will keep trying to find little things to make the days fun for my sweet kiddos.  My Mom would like that.  :o)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Our family has made so many fun memories in this pool over the last 24 years.

My Dad buys Mandavillas every year to put by his pool.

My Dad and I.

Grandma's house.

The best Grandma in the world.

Today would have been my Mom's 68th birthday.  I went to Hobby Lobby to return something, and I wanted so badly to buy something for her.  I miss her terribly.  We all miss her terribly.  I am so happy for my Mom.  Really I am.  I know that today was the best birthday she has ever had.  She is in heaven and couldn't be happier.  It's just so hard not to be able to talk to her. 

In honor of her birthday, I thought I would list some things I love about my Mom.

1.  She loved her family more than anyone I know.

2.  She was so proud of her grandchildren and their accomplishments.

3.  She was always interested in whatever was going on in our lives.

4.  She loved holidays and made them fun and special.

5.  She did things for other people, even when she didn't feel good.

6.  She was an excellent Southern cook.

7. She was sentimental.

8. She was passionately pro-life, and saved many babies through her work at a crisis pregnancy center.

9. She was a Christ follower and spent her life working for the Lord.

10.She made many wonderful things for the people she loved, including quilts, dresses, raggedy-ann dolls, costumes, etc.

11. She took the time to write in journals for all of her grandchildren

12.  She taught her 3 daughters to love faith and family, home and motherhood.

14.  She genuinely cared about people.

15.  She gave us a love of family history.

16.  She was fun to be around.

17.  She taught us that you should never take store bought food to a potluck.

18.  She gave us a really fun childhood.

19.  She welcomed my prodigal brother back with open arms.

20.  She made many wonderful traditions for our family that we will always cherish.

We miss you so much Mom!  I can't wait to see you again some day.  I know that you will be there to greet each one of us when we reach those pearly gates. 

Pictures

My husband bought a new camera for me.  I was supposed to get it for Christmas last year, but we kept putting it off.  I'm having so much fun with it!  On the way to my Dad's house last week, we stopped at my favorite town and took a few pictures of the beautiful houses.  Aren't they gorgeous???  My favorite house is the one on the bottom.  I LOVE the porch!

A Treasure in the Darkness

My daughter Carrington with my Dad at my Mom's graveside service.

I have been frantically trying to write in a journal about my Mom's hospitalization. I don't know why I want to write everything down, but I feel desperate to record all of the events.  I don't want to forget our last days with her.  I want my children and grandchildren to be able to read about it too.  It seems strange in a way because it was such a gut-wrenching time for all of us.  But I'm also very greatful for that time to be able to say goodbye to her, thank her for all that she did for us, ask her questions, and be able to tell her how much we all love her.  I decided to take a break from the journaling to write here about an event that took place in the hospital.  It was very special to our family.

One Thursday evening was a particularly emotional time for us.  Kellie, Marcy, my niece Abigail, and I were standing around my Mom's bed praying.  My Dad, Carrington (my daughter) and my nieces Lydia and Mariah were in the ICU waiting room .  I started praying, and thanked God for our Mom and for what an amazing Grandma she was.  I thanked God for some of the wonderful ways she had blessed us and for specific things she had done for us.  I remember mentioning "family night" when we watched the Walton's and ate donuts and popcorn when my siblings and I were kids.  :-)  I also asked for God to give us wisdom to make good decisions and for the "peace that passes all understanding" during this horribly sad time.  I remember asking God to help us feel His presence.

Later that evening, we started asking my Mom questions and frantically writing down her answers.  Questions like, "who made the quilt that I have?", and "where did the cake plate with the handle come from?".  We were desperate for answers to questions that we should have asked a long time ago.  She was also telling us things she wanted at her funeral, like pall bearers and different songs to be sung.  She talked about not wanting to miss her 50th wedding anniversary that's coming up and also her first grandchild's wedding (which will be taking place within the year).   My Dad and my nieces Lydia and Mariah had joined us in my Mom's ICU room.  About an hour or two after our prayer, Carrington called on my cellphone and said, "Mom, you have to come out here so we can tell you something.  I have the neatest story to tell you!"  I told her that I would wait and come out a little bit later.  I knew that once I left my Mom's ICU room that I wouldn't be allowed back in for the night.  They were very strict about visiting hours and the number of people in the room.  We broke the rules constantly and had been kicked out of her room on several occasions because visiting hours were over.  I finally took Mariah out to go sit with Carrington and Abigail because it was getting so late and the nurse was getting irritated with us for having so many people in the room.

To tell the rest of my story, I have to give some background information.  20 years ago this summer, my Mom and Dad, and several other wonderful Christian people started a small crisis pregnancy center in the town they live in.  My Mom ended up becoming the director of the center and worked there for 17 years.  She was passionately pro-life and also counseled many women who were broken-hearted over abortions that they had had. 

Back to my story........  When I went out to the waiting room, Carrington and Abigail were so excited.  Abigail said that they had been watching "I Love Lucy" on their dvd player.  2 women started humming to the music.  Abigail asked them if they wanted to watch it with them.  One of the women said, "Is your Grandmother a patient in the ICU?"  She also asked Abigail what her Grandma's name was.  When Abigail told her, the lady said, "17 years ago, I found myself divorced with 2 children, and pregnant.  I thought about getting an abortion.  I went into a crisis pregnancy center, and your Grandmother counseled with me and was so sweet and understanding.  She encouraged me to have my baby and now I have a 17 year old daughter.  I'm so thankful that your Grandmother helped me when I didn't know what to do." 

Needless to say, my Dad, sisters, and our daughters were thrilled and thankful for this story.  We prayed with the lady and hugged her.  One of the pastors who spoke at my Mom's funeral told that story.  We were so thankful that God sent that lady to remind us that He was there and that our Mom had "fought the good fight" and we will see her again some day.

Isaiah 45:3  "And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel."