Precious Memories How They Linger

 PRECIOUS MEMORIES

Here I sit tears flowing. It is difficult as we grow older sometimes, saying goodbye to our parents and loved ones is sometimes a process, preparing our hearts and emotions for the inevitable, but at the same time praying for miracles and more time. Emotions I can't really explain and a certain feeling of helplessness and sadness, mixed with lots of love and memories that bring smiles and warmth on a cold day are flooding my heart and mind. Small blessings become BIG ones during times like these. God will often move on others and set the wheels in motion so that an event (a blessing) can happen. He sees the desires of our heart and He hears us when we pray. My sister hates to fly, but daddy came up with an idea, of having her fly here (Minnesota) 'nonstop' and then fly out 'nonstop', and then driving down with Lee and I to see mama and daddy on the 26th of December until the 2nd of January. With frequent flyer miles and a little tweaking here and there, God is answering not ONLY my mama's prayer but my daddy's too. I have been praying and asking God to open the doors so my sis could come. It's all falling into place...God is moving and my heart is full of gratitude to the Lord. And Daddy, I love you SO much too. You have no idea...how much I treasure you, and God is watching out for you and mama and our family. We are ALL going to be okay. I was reminded of an old hymn...I know who holds tomorrow... (see video and lyrics below)



 OCTOBER 2013:

I SPENT A MONTH AT MAMA AND DADDY'S. IT WAS RAINING WHEN I GOT THERE AND A  BEAUTIFUL RAINBOW WAS HOVERING OVER THEIR HOME, CASTING A GLORIOUS HUE, ALMOST HEAVENLY.  RAINBOWS ARE A SIGN IN THE BIBLE OF GOD'S PROMISE TO KEEP HIS WORD. THE BIBLE SAYS ...HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US. I KNEW GOD WAS SHOWING ME THAT HE WAS WITH MY MAMA AND DADDY, AND MY FAMILY NOW AND IN THE DAYS AHEAD. MAMA HAS ALZHEIMER'S, SO THEY SAY, CHRONIC LUNG PROBLEMS, AND ARTHRITIS IN HER BACK. A COUPLE YEARS AGO SHE HAD A STROKE BUT BOUNCED BACK. GOD HAS BEEN WITH MY MAMA WATCHING OVER HER SINCE SHE WAS A CHILD, AT A TIME WHEN DOCTORS MADE HOUSE CALLS, A DOCTOR TOLD MY GRANDMA THAT THEY COULD NOT SAVE HER...HAVING HAD WEAK LUNGS AND HAVING HAD PNEUMONIA A COUPLE TIMES ALREADY IN HER YOUNG LIFE...SHE WAS SLIPPING AWAY, WHEN A CHRISTIAN LADY WHO WAS THERE, SHOUTED 'NO' AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD ROSE UP IN HER AND SHE BEGAN TO PRAY. NEEDLESS TO SAY, MAMA SURVIVED. ANOTHER DOCTOR GAVE HER A SIMILAR PROGNOSIS WHEN SHE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN, TELLING HER SHE WOULD VERY LIKELY NOT REACH THE AGE OF 60YRS OLD. WELL, MAMA IS 81YRS OLD, AND HAS BEAT THE ODDS MANY TIMES IN HER LIFE. 

I LAY MANY A NIGHT AT MY PARENTS HOUSE, WHEN IT WAS QUIET, BEFORE GOING TO BED, TEARS FLOWING QUIETLY DOWN MY CHEEKS AS I PRAYED FOR MY PARENTS THAT GOD WOULD WATCH OVER THEM AND BE WITH THEM, GIVE THEM STRENGTH AND HELP OUR WHOLE FAMILY BE PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE. IT WAS A TIME WHEN I HELD MY MAMA'S HAND, WHEN WE LAUGHED, WE CRIED, AND JUST ABOUT EVERY NIGHT, I WOULD TUCK MY MAMA INTO BED, KNEEL BY HER AND TALK, AND I WOULD LAY MY HAND ON HER HEAD AND CHEST AND PRAY. I WOULD GIVE HER A MASSAGE AND MAKE SURE SHE WAS COMFORTABLE. I WOULD KISS MY DADDY ON THE HEAD AND SAY GOODNIGHT. OH, HOW I LOVE AND CHERISH THEM. 

THIS IS THEIR DECK AND WAS TAKEN WITH THAT WONDERFUL GOLDEN HUE FROM THE STORM AND RAINBOW. UNDER THIS IS A VIDEO OF THE VIEW TO THE SIDE OF ME WHERE THE STORM CELLAR IS. DADDY FEEDS THE BIRDS DAILY...AND THERE ARE CARDINAL, BLUE JAYS AT TIMES, AND A EUROPEAN DOVE. IT'S SO PEACEFUL HERE. DADDY PLAYS THE MANDOLIN ON THE DECK WHEN IT IS WARM (AND SOMETIMES SMOKES A CIGAR).

DADDY PLAYING HIS MANDOLIN ON THE DECK, ONE OF HIS FAVORITE PLACES TO BE. HIS OWN LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN WITH ALL HIS FLOWERS AND BIRDS.

 

                                   

LISTENING TO THE BIRDS ON THE DECK: 

THOSE BIRDS LOVE MY DAD 

AND I LOVE LISTENING TO THEM 

                                                           WHEN I AM THERE DURING WARMER DAYS 

DADDY GIVES MAMA A FLOWER FROM HIS GARDEN




 

THEIR QUAINT LITTLE HOUSE ON THE CORNER AND DADDY'S BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS...HE IS ALWAYS WORKING IN HIS GARDEN...






.

 MAMA SITTING ON THE FRONT OF THE PORCH, SHE WASN'T FEELING WELL, BUT SHE WAS A REAL TROOPER...ALLOWING ME TO TAKE SOME PICTURES BEFORE GOING INTO THE HOUSE TO REST








VANDER H. ATWELL

                   DADDY STANDING IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE...AND AMONGST HIS FLOWERS. <3 comment-3--="">

 NONALU ATWELL (RAMEY)

  WHILE VISITING I FELT GOD WANTED ME TO PAINT MY MAMA'S  KITCHEN 'WHITE', AS WELL AS  HER LAUNDRY/PANTRY AREA, AS THIS WAS SOMETHING SHE HAD WANTED FOR A LONG TIME. SHE WAS SO EXCITED AND SO BLESSED AND WAS TELLING EVERYONE, THAT SHE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.  HER KITCHEN WENT FROM A PEA SOUP GREEN TO A WHITE WHICH COMPLIMENTED HER BLUE WILLOW AND HER COBALT BLUE. SHE ALWAYS DECORATED ON A DIME, BUT HER HOUSE LOOKED LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A COUNTRY MAGAZINE. I WILL NEVER FORGET THE LOOK AND THE PLEASURE ON HER FACE...AND HOW SHE LIT UP WHEN IT WAS ALL DONE. I LOVE MY MAMA'S SMILE AND THE GREATEST FEELING IN THE WORLD IS TO SEE HER HAPPY. I THINK I WAS MORE BLESSED THAN SHE WAS.

 ONE OF MAMA'S RARE MOMENTS WHERE HER SENSE OF HUMOR CAME SHINING THROUGH...AND HER JOY AT HAVING A WHITE KITCHEN. SHE WAS SO EXCITED AND IT LIFTED HER SPIRIT IMMENSELY. THIS PICTURE MAKES ME LAUGH AND FILLS ME WITH JOY...<3 comment-3--="">

 

 

LOVE MY DADDY...

 













 LOVE MY MAMA...











So, This is the song that has been on my heart....and one that my parents are very familiar with, an old song but fresh in my heart and my mind as memories come flooding back to me. I guess as we get older we often will come to a place where we come to the realization that ...Hey, I'm not so young any more and time is  MORE precious than ever. I think of the times I 'didn't call', or my 'life' was so busy with raising my own family...that I forgot that there are those I cherish, love and hold dear to my heart but ...I just thought they would be with me forever and that I had lots of time. So the last few years...I've been making the trek home (to my parents)...squeezing out every minute, savoring every hug, just sitting in the room with them, painting a kitchen/ laundry room, mingling with the kin folk, going to hear my daddy play the Mandolin at various places, eating at the Senior Citizen's Home, holding my mama's hand, reading my daddy's wonderfully well written articles....loving those precious memories...




 

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT TOMORROW

 

                                                                                                       The Home Coming 2012

                                                                                                           DERON AND DADDY                                                       

I don't know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from it's sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.                                  

                                                                                              
I don't worry o'er the future
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

 


Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

Every step is getting brighter
As the golden stairs I climb;
Every burden's getting lighter,
 Every cloud is silver-lined.
                           VONDA AND MAMA       



                      KELVIN AND VONDA

There the sun is always shining
There no tear will dim the eye;
At the ending of the rainbow
Where the mountains touch the sky

 Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

                                                                                                                           KAREN AND VONDA

I don't know about tomorrow;
It may bring me poverty.
But the one who feeds the sparrow,
Is the one who stands by me.

And the path that is my portion
May be through the flame or flood;
But His presence goes before me
And I'm covered with His blood.

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow  
And I know who holds my hand...


                                                                  
                                                        


                                                        THE GATHERING (2012)

 

     

  CELEBRATING OUR PARENTS 61ST ANNIVERSARY AS WELL CELEBRATING MY OTHER  BROTHER'S  (KELVIN-PICTURED ABOVE IN THIS VIDEO) 50TH BIRTHDAY.  IT WAS A BITTERSWEET TIME AS WE HAD GATHERED AT DADDY'S REQUEST, THINKING IT MIGHT BE ONE OF THE LAST TIMES WE AS A FAMILY WOULD BE ABLE TO BE TOGETHER TO SEE MAMA WHO WAS RECOVERING FROM A STROKE, ALZHEIMER'S AND CHRONIC HEALTH ISSUES. . THIS GATHERING WAS PLANNED IN ADVANCE BY OUR DAD AND LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT THE DAY THE  AIRLINE TICKETS WERE BOUGHT , THAT VERY NIGHT MY SISTERS SON, BRYAN WOULD WALK INTO ETERNITY DUE TO A TRAGIC ACCIDENT. WE LOVED, WE LAUGHED AND WE CRIED...IT WAS MEANT TO BE. THAT WAS IN DECEMBER OF 2012. MAMA AT THIS WRITING IS STILL HANGING IN THERE, CONTINUES TO BE FRAGILE...DADDY IS DEVOTED TO HER. THOUGH HER MEMORY IS FADING SOME AT THE WRITING OF THIS...SHE TELLS ME ALL THE TIME HOW GOOD DADDY IS TO HER. HOW MUCH HE LOVES HER AND HOW MUCH SHE LOVES HIM. THEY WORRY ABOUT EACH OTHER. I SEE LOVE IN ACTION AND I TRULY BELIEVE THERE IS A LOVE THAT IS STRONGER AT THE END OF LIFE THAN AT THE BEGINNING.  I'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN WITH MY PARENTS AND I AM OVERWHELMED WITH GRATITUDE...

                                                             ~MOM AND DAD~

                                                                       



                                                                                    LOVE YOU




                                        MAY 21, 2015, 5PM, MY PRECIOUS MAMA WENT HOME TO GLORY.  
                                                    I LOVE YOU, MAMA, I'LL SEE YOU 'TOMORROW'. xxoo