Silas' 9th Birthday

We had Silas' birthday party at the Mint Hill Park two days before his June 13th birthday. He had lots of friends there and a good time was had by all. We had a pinata as he requested, I'm not sure the moms there liked it! Who could blame them, wild boys swinging a metal golf club (best thing we could come up with) at a swinging paper basketball!

 

We also celebrated his birthday at Grandma and Granddaddy's with all of the other May and June birthdays. Silas got to blow out the candles as the youngest birthday celebrated.

The grandkids (Silas and Stephen) and the great-grandkids (Taylor, Kaitlyn and Josh) doing their favorite thing, riding on Granddaddy's golf cart.

Last Day of School for Silas

Stephen cheesin' it while the class awards are handed out!

Miss Daniels, his very young and energetic teacher! Not sure if Homeschool Mom can compete....

An end....and a beginning!

Yesterday was my last official shift at Food Lion, where I have worked for the last 27 years. The only job I've ever had! I started the day after I turned 16 in 1984. My birthday was on Labor Day that year, so Pop took me to get my license that next day, and I went to work that afternoon. Of course I never expected to be there that long, it just kind of happened! Scott and I met there. We were co-workers for almost a year before he asked me out. I was 17, he was almost 23. No one believed he was older, they thought the goofy boy was my age, not a freshly minted college grad! I stayed at FL through the rest of high school and 2 1/2 years of college. I was studying Graphic Arts at CPCC when we got married in Sept 1988. I wound up quitting college, and going to Full-time in January 1989. I was promoted to Customer Service Manager in 1991, and stayed in that position until yesterday. I worked at 9 different stores in the 27 years there. I've met so many people working in the public arena for so long, and I have made life-long friends there. I know that I am going to miss my Mint Hill customers the most, I was there the longest of any store, almost 13 years. I met Patti Taylor there, who wound up being the one who made the connection from Rebekah to us, leading us to our firstborn son, Silas!

I know that God has a plan in everything, and I knew the time was right to move on. After losing Mom and Pop this year, I knew it was time for me to be home with my boys. Not only am I going to be a Stay-At-Home mom, we are going to Homeschool! I have told everyone that I am just going to dive in, hook, line and sinker! Many people I have told have been very skeptical and are concerned that my boys will not be socialized enough. I promise, they will be JUST FINE! Our family is excited about this new beginning, and I have a gazillion projects I want to get done this summer before we start schooling. I am working on converting our study into our home school room, and I want to purge a lot of unnecessary stuff from the house. Scott says "Can't you just relax and enjoy retirement?".....

I'll keep you posted on that :o)

Happy in the Sad

It's been a tough year...a REALLY tough year. Fortunately, life does go on. There have been some fun times mixed in with the sad times, but they all just seemed so...unbloggable (I think that's a word, but oh well!). I have even found that I did not even reach for my camera either. I have just been in a funk, but I am trying to pull out of it.

Eating outside at the restaurant where Nikole works

Stephen chessin' it with 'Kold (as he calls her!)

The view from our room at the Shell Island Resort

We had a fun the week before Easter at the beach. We spent 2 days at Wrightsville beach visiting Nikole where she is now attending school. Then we went to Ocean Lakes Campground to hang with Grandma and Granddaddy.

Then we came home and went to our church's Easter egg hunt....

Aren't they just the SWEETEST??!!

Saying Goodbye...again...

This year is unarguably the toughest of our lives. After losing my mom and Scott's brother on the same day, we lost my dad just 57 days later. He tried desperately to hang on without my mom, but he just couldn't do it. On April 27, he took matters into his own hands and ended his life. To say that we are shocked and devastated is an understatement. We are trying to hang on the best we can. I had set my "retirement" day from Food Lion for June 18. I am struggling at this point to make it that long, but I am trying to honor my word and my commitment, but to get through each shift is becoming a struggle. Silas is having trouble dealing with the "how" and the "why", but is doing okay. We covet the prayers of our friends and church family. The day before Pop's funeral, I was mowing the grass, crying and praying all at the same time. I want all of Pop's friends to remember him the way he was before mom got sick, so I wrote this for the back of the program at his memorial service. It's who he is to us....

We Call you Pop...

Others know you by different names: You are "PaPaw" to Matthew, Kristina, Shelby, Shayna, Silas and Stephen; your favorite niece and nephews call you "Jake"; those who don't know you so well call you "Bobby"; but most everyone else calls you "Sonny" (except for one, who when your Nextel beeps and we hear his nickname for you, we know it's Marty!). You're pretty good at making up nicknames for others too: Sam, Slick, Stonewall, Smarty, Killer, Shayna Layna, Shelby Jane, Leroy, and Bird, just to name a few!

It's amazing how many people you know. They all love you and accept you just as you are. Our hope is that they will remember who you were before that fateful day of Mom's diagnosis. It was that day that changed you forever.

You are the one who knows every road everywhere, even the ones in the boondocks that no one else ever heard of. You are the one who always says, "All roads lead to the same place", "Take a chance, Columbus did!", "I'll bet you a fat man!", and the other many sayings you have.

Your work buddies say there's only one way to do things, YOUR WAY! Oh how we know this so well. How will we ever mow your grass to suit you? We hope there are no holes in the floor of heaven, if there are, man are we in trouble!

Although they never met you, the Panthers, the Cowboys, and your beloved Duke Blue Devils will greatly miss your fervent cheers. How on earth will your friends at The Little Country Kitchen know what time it is? We're sure they set their watches by your perfectly timed arrival each day. No doubt you made lots of new friends and the Monroe Aquatic Center these last couple of years since you retired. You're the one person who never meets a stranger. There will most certainly be a gaping hole left in many lives by your absence.

You and Mom raised us well, we're all functioning okay. Keep each other busy up there in Heaven. We hope your first meal together was Stewed Potatoes and Fried Cornbread. We will be there to join you at each of our appointed times. Meanwhile, we will carry on here, raising kids, mowing grass, and tending to all other of life's necessary chores.

Rest Well Pop, We love you,

Your Kids

Safely Home

I think about and miss my mom everyday, and I wonder when I will get to the point that it doesn't hurt to know that she is not at the other end of a quick phone call. I got this from a friend who just lost her mother, so I thought I would share it here:

Safely Home

I am home in Heaven, dear ones;

Oh so happy and so bright!

There is perfect joy and beauty

In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over,

Every restless tossing passed;

I am now at peace forever,

Safely home in Heaven at last.

Did you wonder I so calmly

Trod the valley of the shade?

Oh, but Jesus' love illumined

Every dark and fearful glade.

And He came Himself to meet me

In that way so hard to tread;

And with Jesus' arm to lean on,

Could I have one doubt or dread?

Then you must not grieve so sorely,

For I love you dearly still,

Try to look beyond earth's shadows,

Pray to trust our Father's will.

There is work still waiting for you,

So you must not idly stand;

Do it now, while life remains,

You shall rest in Jesus' land.

When that work is all completed,

He will gently call you Home;

Oh, the rapture of that meeting,

Oh, the joy to see you come!

Yes, our loved ones will be waiting for us there....what a glorious homecoming that will be!

Creating a New Normal...

The last blog post I did was on January 10th after finding out on January 3rd that my mom had leukemia. There has been a lot packed into these last 2 months--joy, sorrow, grief, unbelief, sadness, hope--every emotion you can think of, and some that you can't. We laid mom to rest yesterday after a wonderful service. Their small church was overflowing and standing room only. It was a wonderful testimony to her life of loving her family and those who we love because she first loved us. As devastating as losing your mom is, Scott's oldest brother Stan passed away the same day---YES---the same day, after an extended illness that ended with Hospice care at the home of their mom and dad. A double blow indeed. We experienced such an outpouring of love and support from our friends and church family, otherwise we would not have made it through. By best friend Judith rode into town from 3 hours away and took charge. I don't think I could have made it without her. She took care of the boys, went to Grandparent/Special Person day (along with my Aunt Glenda ) with Silas at his school, cleaned my house from top to bottom, washed clothes, vacuumed floors, waited on a furniture delivery, helped me get pictures printed for my mom's service....I'm exhausted just thinking about it! Thank you God for friends in Christ!

I am ever so grateful for the last 2 months we had with mom. We all got to spend time with her and we definitely grew closer together as a family. My brothers pitched in like you wouldn't even believe. I was able to work a modified schedule at work so that I could cover most of the weekdays and my siblings covered the nights and weekends while I worked. Scott of course had to take care of the boys, but he was such a trooper. I was able to spend time with mom, cook for her, do her laundry, sit and watch her favorite shows with her, just hang out. She felt pretty good up until Feb 24th, she started to really be tired and unable to walk much. She took a turn for the worse over that weekend, and I had to give her a first dose of morphine on Tuesday. The Hospice nurses are wonderful, just a phone call away, but when they tell you it's time to open the box, you know it's bad. She passed away the next morning, on Wednesday March 2nd at 11:30am. Our family is so thankful that she is out of pain and alive with Jesus in Glory. The pain we feel is great at this time, but knowing that she is in a better place makes it a lot easier.

Silas is doing okay, but he got off the bus at her house everyday that I was at work, usually 4 times a week. We will have to try to make this adjustment as easy for him as possible. I am going to try to work a lighter load for a while and see how we do. My dad is going to struggle greatly and we will all have to be there for him and help him adjust to a life without mom, who took care of everything for him for 52 years. We will continue to need prayers, so when the Lord brings our family to your mind, please pray for us!

***Some may think it's morbid to take pictures at a funeral, but I want our boys to remember their Mamaw and we can always think about her through pictures of her***