Please Read Below....

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while....as you can see below, Bill passed away on the 23rd.   (Tuesday Morning)  He got a lot worse on Friday night and I called Lisa home.  She came Saturday Morning.  All day Sat, he took sips of water and sips of coke, but didn't respond much to us.  I think he knew we were around, but didn't talk to us.  Sunday he didn't not call my name or say a word all day.  Monday he seemed a little better and kept saying "home"..."take me home."  I told him I loved him and he was going home to be with Jesus , his mama and out little babies....He said, "Hurry."   Monday night about midnight, I heard him call my name and I got up and his breathing labored.   The rattle was in his chest.  I got up in the hospital bed with him and lay with my arm around him for about 15 minutes and then I knew he was getting worse, so I got Lisa and Gary out of bed.   We stayed by him and talked to him . I called the hospice nurse about 1 oclock and I heard him call my name while I was on the phone with her.  I went back over to the bed and Lisa was trying to give him water, but he couldn't swallow.  Then he started hemorrhaging through his mouth and nose.  Ryan and Lucas stayed in the room the whole time.  Ryan would go get towels for me and they were both "troopers."  That was a good lesson for them about life and death.  Neither one of them cried, but when the hospice nurse came about two oclock...Ryan broke cown and cried out loud.  That's the hardest I have ever seen him cry.  All of us cleaned him up and the funeral home came...(my brother-in-law was the one who came to pick him up)  I kissed him goodbye and cried as he went out the door.  But I felt relieved in a way, because he suffered so long and so much.  He wasn't suffering now.  He went peacefully.  Gary told him to go to God and that we are all on the same path!   I'm ok...just exhausted, but feel at peace about his death.  He told me he was ready,  and I told him he could go....that I would be right behind him and he said, "hurry."    Look at the obituary below.  Love  to all my blogging friends.

BILL'S PASSING....HIS OBITUARY

William C. Melvin

Visitation	Wednesday from 6 - 8 pm at Weaver Funeral Home
Funeral	Friday at 11 am in the Weaver Funeral Home Chapel
Interment	Interment will follow at Eastern Heights Cemetery
Died	November 23, 2010

William C. Melvin, age 74, of Bluff City, TN passed away on November 23, 2010 at his residence. He was born in Bristol, VA a son to the late George and Irene Humphrey Melvin. Mr. Melvin was employed by Pet Dairy and was a tireless worker to the very end. Along with his parents he was preceded in death by two infant children – Rhonda Diane Melvin and Ronald David Melvin.

Survivors include: Wife of 54 years – Clara Cardwell Melvin Children – Lisa Moreno and husband Donaldo, and Gary Melvin Grandchildren – Ryan Moreno and Lucas Moreno Sisters – Helen Potts of Weaverville, NC and Loretta Gentry and husband Dean of Elizabethton, TN Several Nieces and Nephews

Funeral services will be held on Friday at 11 am in the Weaver Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Don McGregor officiating. Interment will follow at Eastern Heights Cemetery. Pallbearers include: Donaldo Moreno, Tim Potts, David Chapman, Jeff Chapman, Larry Talley, and Buddy Wright.
Johnny Simerly will serve as honorary pallbearer. The family would like to say a special thanks to Hospice and especially Amy Feathers (an angel on earth). In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Shiner’s Children’s Hospital. The family will receive friends on Wednesday from 6-8 pm at Weaver Funeral Home. Online condolences may be registered at www.Weaverfuneralhome.net.

Arrangements have been made with Weaver Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.....

Since this is the time for goblins and bats....
Halloween spirits and ghosts and cats.
Weird happenings and witches brew,
These are the things I wish for you.
May the only ghost that comes to stay....
Be the Holy Ghost to guide your way.
May the only spirits you chance to meet,
Be the spirit of love and warm friends sweet.
May the tricks that you're asked to do...
Be the tricks of making a friend or two.
And of helping another along the way....
To add happiness into their day.
 These are Halloween wishes just for you....
And may God bless you in all you do!

STORMS......

This is my neighbors tree.  We had 70 miles per hour winds . 
That's the hardest storm I have seen in a LONG time.   I kept thinking of the song. "Till The Storm Passes By."   Hold me fast let me stand, In the hollow of Thy hand....Keep me safe 'till the storm passes by."

Back To The No Sleep Pattern

Last night was terrible! At bed time I made sure he had everything he needed....water, his bed straightened out, gave him his medicine and emptied his catheter bag. I hadn't been in the bed ten minutes 'till he started yelling for me. I got up to see what he wanted and he didn't know. It was like that ALL night. After about six times getting up and he wanted nothing, I didn't get up any more, but he called my name all night long. I feel like I have been run over by a truck. Now he will sleep all day.

Welcome Sleep!!!!!!!

The last two nights have been better than usual.  We both have slept.   It has been a long time since such a good nights sleep.   I have noticed that he is sleeping more during the day also.   I'm still trying to get my "room" going in the basement so I can catch a nap while he is sleeping.  Hope everyone is having a good week end....It is beautiful at my place here in Tennessee.   

HE CRIED THIS MORNING.....

I made Bill sausage and gravy this morning....  usually it is eggs, grits and toast.   He didn't eat a lot of his gravy so after he finished, I took him a biscuit with molasses.    He said that reminded him of my Daddy, and tears started streaming down his face. We lived next door to him and Bill said he could  remember helping Daddy make molasses and seeing the smoke coming from the fire.   Then I cried.  That used to be a good time.  My Mother, rest her soul would always make a pan of biscuits and let us "sop"  the remains out of the pan after Daddy had emptied most of the molasses.   

That's the second time since we've been married that I have seen him cry.....so underneath somewhere there is a tender spirit.  I'm glad I got to see it!!!!

I'M SO SORRY.....IT'S LIFE GETTING IN THE WAY!!!!

It's been almost a month since I made a post.    It's a full time job taking care of Bill.  He has always depended on me for his every need and I blame myself for that.  Now it is magnified 100%.   One of these days I'm going to make a list of how many times he calls my name during the day....and I never know when he really needs me or if he wants to know that I'm still close by.  A lot of the times, he doesn't even know what he wants when I go.  He will say, "I just wondered where you were and what you were doing."..   This morning at 4 AM his started.  I got up to see what he wanted.....he couldn't sleep (because he slept all day yesterday)  If he is awake, he thinks I should be awake.  I didn't go back to sleep.  That is the way  most of my nights turn out to be.  Sleep won't come to me during the day.  When he is asleep, I try to sleep and I can't.   I have a dark room in the basement.  You would think it was midnight there in the middle of the day.  I'm in the process of cleaning it out and putting up a bed to see if I can take a nap when he does.  And I don't know if his brain isn't getting enough oxygen or it's the morphine he is on, but he is saying the strangest things.  Ryan and Lucas have been with me for four days.  I took them to the mall Saturday.  Gary called and was laughing,  He told me what Bill had said.   He told Gary I was out selling tickets for The Bonnie Kate Theater in Elizabethton.  That is one of the oldest theaters in TN. and if I'm correct, it has been out of business for years.  Bill said I was out selling tickets Saturday.  My Oh My!!!!!Things like that ....I'm keeping a journal....maybe one day it will make me laugh all over again.  Right now he is having a BM (excuse me)  and he want sme to stand by his bed until he gets through.  He has to have a diaper because where he used the bedpan, he has raw places that I have to dress every day.   I know this sounds awful, but I wanted you to know I'm still alive....I started to say and well....but I have seen better days.   I think my better days will be after I'm dead and gone.  I will try to post more often...bare with me!

I'VE BEEN TO THE BEACH!!!!!

It was the Shriners Convention at Myrtle Beach SC.  Gary is a Shriner and we look forward to this every year.  Lucas got to go this year for the first time.  And of course Ryan was there!   Bill's sister and her husband were there also. Bill was in hospice for five days.  He did fine and a good time was had by all!!!! 

TAKE TIME

Take time to take.....the small gifts so hesitatingly offered by a friend.  The proud  handmade present from a child.

Take time to listen....to the old man's too oft-told tale.  To a husband's words of love.

Take time to share...a moment with a lonely soul  (for lonliness shared becomes love)....a sorrow with a  

     bereaved friend.

Take time to touch.....another human (which means "I care for you...I trust you.")....another life (for that is

     what life is all about.

Take time for each other....for nothing else is that important.

Take time to live....to dance for fun...to sing for joy......to paint or sew or create a beautiful gift.

Take time to watch....the snow swirling outside the window pane...the flames dancing in the fireplace.

Take time for goodness.....for faltering, fumbling world is after all....mostly good!

FLOWERS IN MY BACK YARD!

Hollyhock Bush and a Clemitus Vine.

FAIR ITEMS....AUGUST 2010

Most of you probably saw this on facebook, but just in case you didn't.  I took eight items to the fair and won six ribbons.  One blue, four red and one white. Here are the pictures. The first one is a pair of Adult knitted socks.  #2 is a crocheted top for a teen.  There's a small picture on the front of it. It has only one shoulder. #3..A pink crocheted hat.  A Prairie Star Afghan. #4.. Granny Square Tote bag.  ( This didn't place)  #5 Crocheted Beach Wrap....this is the one I wore in St. Augustine....and a pair of pink knitted booties.  I entered a red knitted scarf but forgot to take a picture.  It didn't place.

Too Busy to Grow Old

Clara and Bill......

`Sorry I haven't been posting lately. It's been a busy Summer and hasn't it been a HOT Summer? This picture was made on Lisa's front porch in 2007. Bill was sick then, but he could still walk and ride in the car. I remember those days! Now he is bed bound and Hospise comes twice a week. We're doing Okay considering the situation. Things could be worse. I still can find joy in my journey.

ANYONE FOR GRAPES?

According to the news it's a good year for grapes.  The dry humid weather makes for sweeter grapes with a tougher hull.  My grape vines are loaded.  In the end they will be purple.  Here's a cool recipe on these hot days, for a grape salad:  1 T. lemon juice,  1 T. honey,  1 cup bite size cubes cantalope, honeydew melon or watermelon, 1 cup halved red or green grapes, 1 t. slivered fresh mint leaves.   In medium bowl, mix juice and honey.  Add melon and grapes.  Toss gently to coat.  Sprinkle with mint.

AND AWAY THEY GROW.....

Here's a picture of my cucumbers today.  They are growing fine being that I water them every evening.  Boy did they ever get a good drink one night while I was gone.  I ask Gary if he would water them for me and I said, "Please don't forget to turn off the water."   He snapped back at me with, "Mom, I know to turn off the water."   The next morning he called me and said, "you know me like a book."  He went to a friends house and she was commenting on some cucumbers in the neighbors yard.   That's when he thought of the water still running on the cucumbers.  It had been running for about two hours.   Oh well, maybe that the reason they look so good today.  Look at my brown yard in the background.   We need rain!!!!

I MET RUBY.....AKA BLABBIN' GRAMMY

I had such a nice visit with Ruby.   She made us a root beer float and gave me a tour of her house.  She has so many pretty things.  I think it's tomorrow gramps is flying to Texas and then she is going to drive.   I'm so glad I got to meet her.  Judy, I wish you could have been there.    Here's wishing you well on your move to Texas.  You will be missed by many, I am sure!   I'm glad you are my friend!

An Africian Violet from Ruby.

Here's the extent of my garden....CUCUMBERS

Oh, I do have three tomato plants just starting to bloom.

FLOWERS IN MY YARD TODAY!

Click twice to enlarge.

Daddy's Hands - Holly Dunn

The Fawn Died....see post below.

Lisa went out to feed the baby deer this morning and it had died.  She thinks there was something  wrong with it was the reason the mother abandoned it.  She is sad and so is Bella.

Lisa's Find!!!! See post below for details!

I CAN TELL LISA IS HOME!!!!!!

She has found another animal to bring home....  She found this baby deer in the middle of the road going to her house.  It is blind.  Her dog Bella has taken over looking after it.   Bella walks along beside.... wherever it goes and licks it like it is her baby.  Isn't that amazing?     I love this picture.

LISA IS HOME....FROM ROME, ITALY

Beth and Beverly guessed correctly....Judy,  You weren't  very far off location.   Here's two more pictures.   I'm sure she has lots more for me to see.    The first one is the name of their Hotel.

  Lucas and his "famous" wallet.  Ryan bought one first and when they got back to the hotel, Lucas decided he wanted one.  They couldn't find the store where it was purchased.....and walked all over Rome one day and finally found the place.   That's the reason Lucas looks so happy!                                                                                    

WHERE'S LISA???? MORE PHOTOS.

Ryan and Lucas beside a fountain.

Pies, Pies and more pies...Yummy!

                                                                                Giant Salami!                             

Tomatoes and Beans

"Three Little Pigs"

                                                                              Bike in front of a store.  Lots of bicycle riding....Gas is seven dollars a gallon.   I want that top hanging inside!                                                                          

                                                                         

Lisas Where/bouts....continued...see posts below.

Bread Store.....

And a PRADA purse.....Ryan with their waitress tonight.   She looks exactly like someone kin to Ryan.  (Her initials are SMG)   She said not to worry about ordering.  She could speak and understand English, Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese and Italian and another language ,,,I can't remember.   Now how would like to be able to do that?   I would!