November 30, 2009

Emily spent Thanksgiving week with Steve and his family in Destin.

She enjoyed spending time with Madison who is now 8 months old. Madison is beginning to walk when she is holding on to someone. She walks on her tippy toes. Lauren and Ryan called on the drive home to report that she had a tooth come through.  She also enjoyed getting to know Lucy, her great granddog, who belongs to Sarah and Ryan. Lucy is a Labradoodle and Emily thinks she looks like a big sheep.

They spent time playing cards and dominoes, and watching ballgames. Ryan McSwain's parents (Lauren's Ryan) joined them for Thanksgiving dinner. The weather was mostly sunny, just occasionally a little nippy. Russ only lives about 30 minutes away, so he came over several times and a couple of times she went over to his house to have some time to visit.

They headed back home on Sunday. Emily drove on home from Atlanta and got back in time for the reception after the lighting of the star at First Cumberland. She commented that this would be the first time she had ever come home from a trip by herself. 

November 29, 2009

Tonight is the fifth Sunday of the month.  The Cumberland Presbyterian churches in the area take turns hosting a 5th Sunday evening service. Tonight First Cumberland was the host and they had the lighting of the Star service.  There were folks there from about 6 or 7 congregations.  The youth of the church led the star lighting service as they have every year.  It's very beautiful from the road that runs in front of the church.

When Gene and Emily moved to Chattanooga, one of the things they left behind was the large star on top of Pine Mountain that was lit every Christmas.  Gene was instrumental in getting that star built and he became very fond of the idea of the star at Christmas.  He built a star for their yard there in Middlesboro, and when they got to Chattanooga, that first Christmas, he made sure that there was a star for the yard.  The next year after he and Emily had settled in at their new church, First Cumberland Presbyterian, he teamed up with a new found friend, Paul Cromwell, an engineer, and they built a Star for the church.  He thoroughly enjoyed working with Paul; and commented on his engineering skills.

Emily has been out of town over the Thanksgiving week, and she drove back from Atlanta to come to the service.  She got caught up in some awful traffic at Fort Oglethorpe and arrived at the church in time to see the star lit and people standing around it.

Here's the poem Gene wrote after he and Paul constructed the star.  Dr. Carver read the poem tonight just before the congregation went outside to the lighting service.



                                                THE STAR
                                                              

Out of the East a star arose

Never seen or known by man

The wise men said it was from God

Ushering  in the master plan

“What is this plan?” The people asked

A King will soon be birthed.

We must follow the radiant star

To welcome the King to Earth

Joseph and Mary made their way

Along the Bethlehem Trail

And wondered about the Glorious Star

Whose light would never fail

Shepherds watching over their sheep

In Bethlehem’s fields that night

Recalled the stories told of old

Of a radiant omen star so bright

The Inn at Bethlehem was full

As the innkeeper tended his chores

Never looking up to see the Star,

Whose light was at his door.

“No room” he said to the peasant pair

But a stable will do for you

God’s son was born in a stable bare

As ox and sheep bowed down in awe.

Rejoice, ye Heavenly Angel Hosts

Exult ye people, with hearts of praise

Shine on o Star of Bethlehem

The Son of God is born today

So like the shepherds and wise men of old

Made their way to the stable scene

So must we look up and see the light

And seek the manger that holds the King

Patiently He sends His light

To shine upon our way

So wise men still seek and find  Him

And he smiles upon their day

December 2005

Dedicated to:   Paul Cromwell,  Star Builder

November 28. 2009

From one of Gene's many legal pads/notebooks.

Thur  11-28-02  Thanksgiving

I am thankful for God's love - He loved me before I knew Him.
For my Father and Mother who gave me life and cared for me. 
For my sisters who still love me.
For my wife, Emily, who loves me and is really an angel in disguise.
For my children who honor and cherish their parents and for their great work ethic.
For my grandchildren who are really grand.
For my extended family who also nutured me and loves me.
For loving friends who care.
For my country and my country's forefathers who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for the cause of freedom and for creating a nation that embodies the highest of principles and defined great expectations from its citizens.
Personally I thank you for the honor of serving in the armed forces of that country in time of war.
Finally, I thank you for a home
For warmth in winter and for food to strengthen my body.
Let us all bow our hearts to God for the bountiful blessings you have bestowed upon each one of us.

November 27, 2009

From Gene's notebooks:

Julien & Anne VanHoorde
Waremme, Belgium

Honorary members of the17th AB INF DIV ASSOC

The Van Hoordes became lasting friends of Gene and Emily Howard many years ago.  Julien is a retired High School Principal and Anne is a retired college professor.  They were small children at the time of the Battle of the Bulge.

Emily and Gene visited them in Belgium in 1996.  We learned that they held the U.S. Army in a very high regard.  We immersed them in the exploits of the 17th Air Borne Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge.  It was the first time they had a US WWII soldier as a house guest.

As they heard first hand, the stories of bravery, endurance, sacrifice, death and destruction, a new appreciation of the Battle of the Bulge and the 17th Airborne Infantry Division developed.  A new definition of freedom and individual liberty began to unfold.  The American Cemeteries were no longer just tombs.  Each grave in each cemetery held the body of a young man like their own three sons -  soldiers that had placed their lives on the altar of freedom - that had given up their tomorrows so we could have ours!

The great Henri-Chapelle Cemetery lies on the outskirts of Liege, Belgium, only a few miles from the northern front of the Battle of the Bulge.

At least thirty-one of the soldiers of the 17th Air Borne who died in that battle are entombed there.  The Van Hoordes have adopted all of these graves.  They decorate the graves on Memorial Day and other special times.  The have become honorary members of the 17th Airborne Infantry Division.  They have become members of the 17th Airborne Golden Talon Association of Belgium.

The Van Hoordes are an attest to the high honor the people of Belgium feel toward U.S. soldiers.  We are held unconditionally in the hearts of all of the Belgian people.

                    Eugene W. Howard, 155 C
                    Honorary Citizen:   Houffaliase, Bastogne, Waremme

November 26, 2009 - Thanksgiving Day

An e-mail from Emily to Lynn on Thanksgiving Evening. 

Lynn,
This is my first Thanksgiving without your daddy.  He always looked forward to the times of special celebration with our children, grandchildren, and now our great grandchildren.  I treasure the memories of those wonderful times.  I miss him so very much!  I am so thankful that our children are sharing this wonderful family day with me.

As I reflect on Thanksgivings past, Gene and I chose to have Thanksgiving at home.  So all our children and grandchildren came to be with us at Pineville, Middlesborough, and now Chattanooga.

Everyone pitched in to help with the turkey and fixings.  After dinner it was football time, sans TV.  We had our own league.  The game took place in the back yard.  Two teams included big and little ones.  So much fun!

I am so thankful for 63 years with Gene and the wonderful family God gave us.  I pray for His blessings on each of their special needs.  We all lift Lynn to God for a complete healing from cancer.

A very special thanks for our great grandchildren, Elijah, Max, and Madison.

I talked to Gregory today.  He was having dinner with some friends.  We always celebrated Lauren's birthday at Thanksgiving.  She was 30 yesterday.  Baby Madison is 8 months, Max is 8 months, and Elijah is 2 years old.  Elizabeth told us Elijah said his first sentence, "Come on, I'll show you."  He wanted her to look at an airplane.

You can understand why I have so much to be thankful for!

Love Mother

Emily spent Thanksgiving Day with Steve and his family. Here she is enjoying giving Madison her Thanksgiving morning breakfast.

November 25, 2009

Here's an old folk remedy for arthritis from Dad's notebooks.

Gin and Raisins.

Empty one box of golden light raisins into a large shallow container.  Pour enough gin to completely cover the raisins.  Let stand, uncovered, for about 7 days until all the liquid evaporates.  Stirring occasionally will help the evaporation process.  After the gin has evaporated place the raising in a closed container.

Eat 9 raisins daily. 

November 24, 2009

Emily is busying herself with preparation for Thanksgiving and continuing with the reorganization of her life space.  One of the projects she's taken on is reorganizing the two outdoor storage spaces.  She has been having Amy Wright help her out with that big project and it is ongoing probably through the various seasons!

Today she made her usual Thanksgiving rolls.  Anyone who ever had Thanksgiving dinner or for that matter any other holiday celebration dinner at her house will probably remember those rolls. They are certainly a family tradition.

She's also working on crocheting or knitting a hat for Lynn, who has chosen hats as a head covering rather than wigs or scarfs.  It's going to be made of a black variegated yarn.  She is just finishing making a hat for grandson Elijah.  It's a tiger hat with cute little ears.  She has really enjoyed working on it.

November 23, 2009

One recent Friday Emily penned this piece.

I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise looking out the kitchen window as I ate my half of our one orange to share.  Then I opened Gene's Bible randomly to Psalm 19.  There was a Country Place Restaurant receipt for "Biscuit w/ bacon and coffee"  $4.77 including tax and gratuity -

Psalm 19  
The heading says "For the director of music a psalm of David"

"The heavens declare the glory of God, 
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

 Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they display knowledge.

There is no language where their voice is not heard - 
   Their voice goes out to the ends of the world."

On Friday mornings Gene got up early and drove the blue truck to the Country Place Restaurant to attend a men's Christian fellowship.

November 22, 2009

Today Dr. Carver was installed as the minister of First Presbyterian Church, the church Emily and Gene found after they moved to Chattanooga.  Joyce drove down from Knoxville after getting up and singing in her own church's early morning service.  She arrived just in time for the service and stayed to visit with Emily until mid-afternoon.

The service was very inspiring, and there was a large crowd there. The Reverend Cliff Hudson delivered the sermon, entitled "Come Over Here and Help Us", and encouraged the congregation to be aware of the opportunities to do God's work whether it is far away or in their own neighborhood.  It was a beautiful occasion, and Emily participated in the Service of Installation. There were three sets of questions - the first set to Dr. Carver; the second set to the Elders of the Session; and the last to the Congregation.  Emily asked the questions of the Congregation. She was dressed in a black velvet dress, and she just looked absolutely beautiful as she stood at the front of the church with the rest of the elders.  Afterward there was a lovely reception.  Bruce once again worked his magic and the social hall was beautifully appointed with flowers and members of the church brought in a wonderful array of finger foods.

One of the questions asked to Dr. Carver was this: "Do you solemnly covenant that, in reliance upon the grace of God, you will endeavor faithfully to fulfill the responsibilities of a pastor to this church, to preach and teach the word of God, to care for the sick, the troubled, the dying, and the bereaved, and to lead this church in its witnesss and ministry, as god gives you wisdom and strength?"  Gene's family bears witness to his faithfulness of this responsibility.  He visited Gene almost every day and gave him spiritual comfort and guidance even to the end of his days.  The family is very grateful for his ministry to Gene in the days and weeks, and yes months of his illness.

November 21, 2009

Emily spent another day working in the garden and back yard.  Amy Wright came over and helped her out.  She has rebuilt one of the raised beds and planted spinach, lettuce, and the swiss chard.  She is thinking it's a gamble on the spinach and lettuce and that if it takes it will be this spring before they come up.  On the other hand the swiss chard will be ready to start light harvesting in just a few weeks.

Joyce is coming down tomorrow to attend the installation of Dr. Carver at First Presbyterian Church tomorrow.  Alan and Lynn will also go.  There will be a reception afterwards and an opportunity to tell him once again how much his devotion to visiting Gene after his surgery meant.  He was there most days and read scripture and had prayer; it was very apparent that his visits were a great comfort to Gene. 

This evening Lynn and Alan took Emily to the City Cafe Diner.  It's an old fashioned diner that's open 24 hours and serves anything on the menu any time of day.  Of course the portions are so large that everyone brought home at least half of their order to have at a later time. 

Mia and Clyde stopped by for a visit this evening.  Clyde will be flying up to spend Thanksgiving with his Dad, so it's good that they will have an opportunity for a visit before next weekend. 

Please remember Emily in your prayers as this first Thanksgiving without Gene comes along.

November 20, 2009

Emily got up really early this morning and baked date nut bread for the children's communicant's class.  Then she went out and worked in the garden and back yard.  She took down the stakes and the supports for the tomatoes and beans that Gene had put up and cleaned out the garden really well.  The broccoli has taken off and is producing broccoli again; she got enough for a mess.  The tomato plants are still blooming and trying to produce more.  She pulled most of the green tomatoes off the vines and took them in to use or let ripen.  She also rebuilt one of the raised beds and got a place ready to plant the swiss chard and maybe even some lettuce.

Amy Wright came late in the afternoon and helped with cleaning out the asparagus bed and straightening the back corner of the yard.  She put straw down where the flooding caused some damage in the garden and is going to come tomorrow or the next day and mow the back yard. 

Dr. Carver, the minister at First Cumberland paid Emily a visit yesterday.  They visited and talked about Gene and how things are going at church.  It will be good for Emily to be getting more involved in church activities again. 

Later in the evening Emily visited with Lynn for awhile.  She is beginning to work on the financial details of everything now.  Of course, the pension that Dad had is now a survivors benefit, so there will be some changes. She is working on how that will all come together.

Please remember Emily in your prayers.  

November 19, 2009

Here is a meditation from Gene.

Genesis 1:26  "And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness...so god created main in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them".
Genesis 2:7  "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul".


Man was a very special creation of God.  Of all the creation only man was given a soul.

Man was created in the image and likeness of and stamped with immortality when God have him a soul. 

Perhaps the greatest thing that happened is that God loved and still loves us.

His desire for us is to be like Him.

November 18, 2009

Today Emily finished getting her car registration and licensing finished up.  Yesterday she got her emissions testing done and passed with no problem.  So today she got together all her paperwork and went up to the licensing office and got her car registered.  She decided that she wanted to keep the tag that she got when they first moved to Tennessee, and they allowed her to do that.  She was pleased to get it all done. 

This afternoon Joyce drove down to spend the night.  The plans are for the two of them to work in the yard and flower and vegetable gardens tomorrow.  Tonight was a Thanksgiving Dinner at Cumberland Presbyterian.  Alan, Lynn, and Joyce were Emily's guests.  They had a lovely traditional Thanksgiving feast -- turkey and dressing with gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans.  They also had a really interesting dessert.  It was a heavy cake with pecans baked together with a pumpkin pie topping - and then a big dollop of whipped cream on top. 

She will enjoy having Joyce there to visit with and help out around the place.  It will be good for them both.

November 17, 2009

Emily has had a pretty busy day today.

She serves on the Christian Education Committee of the church, and today for the first time since Gene's surgery she went to have a meeting with Jennie Faires, the staff person who is the Director of Children's Ministries.  They had a good meeting and it's great that Emily is beginning to get herself back into activities at the church. 

She also took the Volvo to get the emissions testing done, and is planning to go tomorrow to take care of getting her tag.  She is not accustomed to doing things like this on her own.  Gene usually took care of things like tags and even putting gas (diesel) in her car.  So it's a good and big step for her to go do it on her own. 

Emily talked to Steve and discovered that he's had a couple of medical issues going on lately.  Last week he had some pain in his back and some small break outs.  After a couple of days dealing with that and having a break out appear on his chest as well as pain in both his back and his chest, he went to his dermatologist and found that he has shingles.   Thank goodness it is a very mild case.  In addition to shingles, he has had abdominal pain and last night it became pretty severe.  After dinner last night he hurt so badly that he had Pat take him to the emergency room.  There they did a scan and some blood work.  His diagnosis is pancreatitis.
After he came home from the hospital he had another very bad bout of abdominal pain.  He's been home today resting up and by this evening, he had made it down to the living room, but is still resting. 

Remember Emily and Steve in your prayers for strength and healing.

November 16, 3009

Gene left behind so many different kinds of writing. Here is his meditation on Habits.  Written in longhand on a legal pad.  The pages before and after are drafts of poems.  There is no date.
-------
Habit - what we do almost automatically

Seven Good Habits to Cultivate

1.  Solitude:  Give top priority to God. Be alone with yourself - know yourself.

2.  Study: Know what's right and what's wrong. Know what is True and what is False.  Know the difference between Love and Hate. Know the difference between Wisdom and Folly - what is Noble and what is Cowardly.

3.  Find a few friends to help you grow.  As a group grow together.

4.  Celebrate that which is good in your Life.

5.  Pray:  Pray each Day:  Praise God. Thank Him for His Goodness.  Lay before Him your burdens.

6.  Simplicity - Keep your life simple.

7.  Compassion:  Have Compassion for others; while none of us can solve all of the problems of the world, we can do things and show compassion to others that in the scope of eternity may change the world.

November 15, 2009

Emily wasn't intending to go to Sunday School, but looked at her watch wrong and ended up there early.  So she visited Dr. Carver's Sunday School class where they were discussing 1st Peter Chapter 4 - the discussion was about suffering. She enjoyed church service this morning  - it focused on stewardship and a gentleman who serves as an elder with her, gave the talk.

There are about 5 or 6 women at First Cumberland Church who have lost their husbands in the past few months, so the church will be sponsoring grief counseling service through hospice.  Emily is going to participate - she thinks that it will be on Thursdays. The men who died all seemed to have been good friends with Gene - and they are buried at the National Cemetery. 

This afternoon Emily went to the Cemetery and took flowers.  Someone had decorated Dad's grave with a small flag.  Perhaps they left it during the Veteran's Day service last Tuesday.  Emily found that a woman and her neighbor were visiting her husband's grave which is very near to Gene's.  They had a good conversation and took pictures for one another. 

Later in the afternoon, she took the pansy baskets she had made for Lynn and Alan up to their back yard where she found Liga at home.  The two of them found a place to hang them and gave them a good watering.  Later in the evening she went back to have dinner and a visit with them. 

November 14, 2009

Emily worked outside this morning in her flowers and yard.  She has always loved doing work outside.  She says that the first year after she had retired that she thought she spent every day outside to make up for all the years she had been inside.  Of course the flowers and landscaping show that she loves to work in that way.

This afternoon she and Lynn went to the Barn Nursery.  She bought pansies to make a couple of hanging baskets for Lynn's back yard.  They picked out blue, yellow, deep purple and orange.

She also has gorgeous pansy plantings under the dogwood tree in her front yard. She has enjoyed making the yard into a beautiful place.  It looks quite different from when they first moved into the house. 


She also bought some beautiful Swiss Chard to plant in one of the raised beds she and Gene built out in the back yard.  Gene was always very proud of the chard, He and Emily used to talk about how it was served as a delicacy in some restaurants.  

This evening she had Lynn, Alan, and Liga down for dinner.  She made a favorite - soup beans, Kale greens, beets, and cornbread as well as pumpkin pie for dessert.  She used a corn pudding mix to make the cornbread and then fried it! 

She's looking forward to having her sister, Joyce, come down for a visit mid week. They'll enjoy getting their hands dirty in the yard.  So that old saying - you can take the girls off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the girls holds true for these two!!

Please keep Emily in your prayers.

November 13, 2009

Emily's kitchen with it's wall of windows faces east and it's a wonderful place to be when the sun comes up. This morning she enjoyed watching the sunrise.

Today she worked on the two storage sheds - getting things organized and getting rid of things that she doesn't need. Amy Wright came over and helped her work on that project.

She also went to the bank and got a safety deposit box and worked on some of the paperwork relating to pension changes.

This evening she went to eat with Lynn and Alan to a favorite little neighborhood Chinese restaurant - Na Go Ya. She commented that learning to cook for one is hard. Of course, she has never really liked leftovers, preferring to make just enough for a meal. That's just another one of those things that she's having to adjust to.

Keep Emily in your prayers.

November 12, 2009

Today was Emily's PEO club meeting day.  She was helping to host and made a fresh fruit salad to take along.  Their were not as many members as usually attend, but she said it was an enjoyable day.  She arrived at 9:30 to help get everything set up.  The other member who was co-hosting was sick today so someone picked up the food and brought it over.  Today's program was about the philanthropic activities the group is involved in.

After PEO, she went to Walmart.  She says that you have to plan to spend at least an hour and a half there.She was looking for some of the fabric that she is using as the background in the fish quilt, but thinks maybe she got it at the fabric store instead of WalMart.  Anyway by the time she came home she had been gone for most of the day.

This evening she went to visit with Lynn for a bit.  There is some news about the property that she and Gene owned in partnership with his sisters Dot and Irene.  They are having it surveyed and are trying to make a decision about having the timber cut, and other things.  Steve is helping out on that project and we'll report what comes next.

Emily is certainly enjoying her new car.  She thinks the automatic door locks are just great and it drives great! 

November 11, 2009

Today was Veteran's Day.  It was a cool and windy day here in Chattanooga.  Emily stayed at home most of the day and sorted through things.  She says she is reorganizing herself and the house to better fit her new way of living. 

It the afternoon, she went with Lynn and Alan to Lynn's Herceptin treatment.  While she was there, she worked on the hat she is knitting (crocheting?) for Elijah.  It is finished, except it has ears and she was working on the trim around the ears.  She started working on it when Elizabeth and Elijah were here for that week after Gene's funeral.  She is beginning to talk about making a trip to see them sometime after Christmas and staying for a couple of weeks. 

This evening Emily went to church for the Wednesday night supper and for the Church's participation in the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child.  She took Lynn and Valdis along as guests. She had two boxes, one for a girl and one for a boy.  They were filled with lots of things that Emily would think of that others might not.  For example, each box had socks and underwear and an outfit for a child.  She also put in toothpaste and toothbrushes, as well as candy, a small toy, and school supplies.  It will be a great box for a youngster to open.  The evening was very pleasant.  There were lots of empty boxes and tables loaded with thing to go in them.  The participants set up and assembly line and wrapped boxes, filled them with goodies and got them ready to send off.  There is still plenty of time for anyone who wants to send a box.  There are instructions and a way to find the nearest drop off point at the link above.

Please continue to pray for Emily to find comfort and peace as she finds her way in her new way of living.

November 10, 2009

Emily had an appointment with the eye doctor recently.  She will be needing new glasses and is trying to decide whether or not to use the same frames one more time.  She has probably used them two times already, so we will see. Dr. Kirby said that she does not have glaucoma and he will continue to monitor her for that.  He noticed that she is beginning to develop cataracts, but they are not yet at the point where they can be removed. 

Today at lunch Emily went with some friends from Gideons for a lunch date at the Southern Star Restaurant downtown. It was an enjoyable outing for her. 

This afternoon she went to WalMart and finished up the shopping for the Christmas Child Shoebox project that they will be putting together at the church tomorrow night.  She has shoeboxes, which she wraps so that the child can keep the decorative box even after opening it to get out the presents inside.  She has always loved to go the extra mile to make things special.

It has rained a slow rain all day long coming our way from Hurricane Ida. There is a flood watch in effect for our area until sometime late tomorrow.  It should not have any consequences for Emily unless another big old industrial dumpster gets carried into the "creek" behind her house.  Actually this slow long rain is probably a really good thing for us right now. 

November 9, 2009

Emily says that she is trying to get her house and her life reorganized.  She is busy coping with the mail and things that come in related to Gene's insurances or his pensions.  It is somewhat overwhelming for her at times.

She went shopping this afternoon for the Christmas Child Shoe Box project.  It's a project of the mission team at Cumberland Presbyterian and they fill boxes with things that children can use.  Emily bought underwear, and socks, and an outfit for a little girl and one for a little boy.  She put in candy and bubble gum and so she also got them toothbrushes and toothpaste.  Each of them got a couple of small toys as well.  She has asked Lynn to get the school supplies paper, ruler, pencil sharpener, and pencils.  The kids who get these boxes will be well supplied!

This evening she had a session meeting at the church. They are planning Dr. Carver's installation as the minister.  He was so faithful in his visits to Gene during his time at Erlanger and Kindred.  His installation will be the Sunday before Thanksgiving during the worship service. 

November 8, 2009

Emily went to church today and seemed to enjoy the service. 

Russ and Tina had driven up to Atlanta to take care of some house business so they just drove on up from there this morning to have a visit with Emily.  She made lunch for them and they had a nice visit.  Russ had an opportunity to look over  They had planned to spend the night with her, but Hurricane Ida made them have second thoughts and so Russ headed south to take care of business. Tina stayed and visited a bit longer and then went on back to Atlanta to finish up business there. They had their huge dog Luke with them, and he did not think it necessary to stay in the fenced in back yard!  So he got out a couple of times.Emily enjoyed seeing him.

Emily spent the afternoon in the yard filling up her bird feeders and getting the garbage can out. She went to clean up the bean vines and found enough broccoli for lunch today and enough green beans to have another mess.   The beans have been making beans since about the last of May.  Emily has canned 19 pints and still had enough to have fresh green beans for the table.  She is sharing some of the canned green beans with Gregory, and is actually putting together a package of green beans to send to him.  She's discovered that using the Post Office flat rate boxes save her lots of money on shipping.  Tonight she is going to work on cutting out quilt pieces for the quilt she is working on for Elijah.

Emily misses Gene lots of times but especially in the morning at breakfast time. He would get up early and get his coffee and then go and sit in his chair and read or write and watch the birds.  Emily would make breakfast and they'd sit down to eat together.  She said that often if she had made eggs, they would be cold by the time he would finish praying, including everyone he had on his prayer list.  It was a comforting routine for them to start almost all their mornings together. 

This week she went to clean up the bean vines and found enough broccoli for lunch today and enough green beans to have another mess.   The beans have been making since about the last of May.  She has canned 19 pints and still had enough to have fresh green beans for the table.  She is sharing some of the canned green beans with Gregory.  Tonight she is going to work on cutting out quilt pieces for the quilt she is working on for Elijah.

Pray for Emily as she finds her way in this new way of living.

November 7, 2009

Today Emily to a Gideon's Area Luncheon at the Silverdale Baptist Church, a large church with over 2000 members attending weekend services.  Her friend Sandy, who is  the president of  the Gideons Auxiliary   of the East Chattanooga Camp where Gene and Emily were affiliated picked her up and took her.  There were also three other ladies from the chapter that Emily was pleased to see. At the luncheon, there was training on varioius aspects of the Gideons work, such as the goals of the organization, and Bible and scripture distribution.   Emily said they had a delicious lunch of pasta salad with ripe olives and artichokes and a chicken salad.   They also enjoyed special music.


This evening she went to Lynn and Alan's to have a birthday dinner for Liga and Valdis.  It was a lovely evening with Mommy Anne and Mia and Clyde also there.  Tonight she is getting together some of the financial papers that have been coming in over the last couple of weeks so that Russ will be able to look at them when he comes in tomorrow.  He's coming up for a day or so and will arrive sometime tomorrow.

Please continue your prayers for Emily to have peace and strength as the days and weeks without her life partner stretch ahead of her. 

November 6, 2009

Emily is working hard to organize her life in a way that is comfortable for her.  She has changed some furniture around and is getting up every day with a long list of things she wants to do.

Emily continues to get mail dealing with Gene's death.  Today it was mail from his Kentucky Utilities Retirement and more forms to complete.  She has to go to court in order to formalize being the executor of his will. And through it all she is just amazing.  She is working in the yard, getting things done in the house, and beginning to get re-involved in her activities.  Tomorrow she is planning to go to lunch with some women from the Gideon's auxiliary.  She says that although she won't continue being a part of the auxiliary, she will definitely continue to stay in touch with them.

Tonight she made potato soup and cornbread and invited Lynn and Alan down for dinner.  It was a lovely evening.  Russ is planning to come up for a short visit this weekend, and she's looking forward to having him here for a bit.

Please pray for Emily to continue to have good days and the strength to deal with all that is coming her way.

November 5, 2009

Emily continues to move through her days taking care of things that need to be done - she is pretty amazing.  Every day she is confronted by things that have to be done that are reminders that Gene is no longer there.  She took care of his prescriptions and the medicine that is still there at the house the other day.  She's sorting through and reorganizing the sheds out back.  Each day it seems there is mail about his death or mail addressed to him.  Each time a reminder for her.  She said the other day that it still just doesn't seem right that he's not there.

She is beginning to get herself back into some of her regular activities.  She has gone to church a couple of times, and has attended a meeting of the women of the church.  She will soon be getting back into the meetings of the PEO group as well as the book club. 

The other day she spent most of the day working outside in the yard.  She said that the first year she retired from teaching that she spent almost the entire year outside because she had spent so much time inside during the years she had worked.  She does love to be outside, and her yard always looks beautiful.  She has such a way with flowers and landscaping. She has already gotten pansies to go into the front flower beds for the winter! 

November 4, 2009

Gene was incredibly involved in all kinds of activities. 

One of the things that he did for a couple of years, when Clyde went to school at an elementary school nearby, was volunteer to read to Kindergartners and 1st graders.  One day when he was at school, he discovered that the kids were studying weather and had been talking about storms.  He composed the poem below and the next time he went to read to the kids he read this with great inflection.  They loved it.
You may too.  If you have someone read it and close your eyes, you may even find that you feel you are in the middle of a thunderstorm in Southeastern Tennessee!  It was composed 2/22/05.

THE STORM

Glimmer

Glimmer      Glimmer

Glimmer Rumble Glimmer

Flash-------Rumble-------Glimmer

Flash----------Booom-a loom----------Rumble

Flash---Flash---Boom---Boom  Rumble Rumble

Flash ---Boom---Bang---Rumble---Rumble

Flash---Wham---Boom---Rumble---Rumble

Flash---Crack---Wham---Boom---Rumble---Rumble

Flash---Crack---Boom---Rumble---Rumble

Flash---Boom---Bang---Rumble---Rumble

Flash---Boom---Rumble---Glimmer

Glimmer---Rumble---Rumble

Glimmer---Rumble---Glimmer

Pitter---Glimmer---Pitter---Patter

Pitter---Patter---Pitter---Patter---Glimmer

Pitter---Patter---Pitter---Pitter---Patter---Patter

Pitter-Patter-Pitter-Patter-Pitter-Patter-Patter

Patter-Patter-Patter-Patter

SPLASH!!!

November 3, 2009

We are sad to report the death of Gene's niece, Joyce .  She was the oldest daughter of Gene's oldest sister,  Muriel Joy.  The funeral service will be held in Somerset, Kentucky tomorrow.  Gene's cousin Mia had thought about driving up tonight and Mom was planning to go with her if she was able to go, but that didn't work.  Unfortunately I'm not feeling well enough to make that trip so Gene's family will only be there in spirit.  We will all be thinking of the family tomorrow.

Emily continues to slog through all the business that needs to be done regarding Gene's death.  Today she received a couple of communications regarding insurances and his military retirement benefits.  It's pretty hard for her to have something like this nearly every day.  But she is doing awfully well. 

She is beginning to make plans to have Thanksgiving with Steve's family this year in their Florida place.  I don't think all the details are worked out yet, but it should be a different kind of occasion this year. Now that
she has a good dependable car, she could decide to drive down to Atlanta and go with Steve and Pat from there.  That might work really well, or maybe it will be another plan. 

November 2, 2009

Gene loved to write poetry and essays.   When his first great-grandchild turned one year old, his Great Grandfather wrote this poem for him.


Run Elijah Run
See Elijah Run
Elijah Runs Fast
Run Elijah Run


Can Elijah Run
See Elijah Run
See Elijah Fall
Elijah Gets Up


See Elijah Run
Elijah Runs Fast
Run Elijah Run
See Elijah Run


Elijah is Big
Elijah is Strong
Elijah is Smart
Elijah is One

November 1, 2009

Emily had a pretty good day.  She went to church and enjoyed Dr. Carver's sermon about stewardship.  She spent the afternoon going through mail and sorting through papers. 

Emily is behind on thank you notes and wants everyone to know  that she is so appreciative of all the support she's received over this long time of Gene's illness and death.  She still says that it's hard to believe that it has all happened.  She has been so uplifted by the cards, and food, and flowers.   The contributions to churches, the Gideons, and the Cancer Society have offered a great comfort to her. 

She continues to move forward and is finding her way.  Please pray for Emily to have comfort and strength as these new days approach when the comfort of cards and visitors will wane and she faces a year of firsts without Gene.