photo credit Judy Hall

I remember Ryan Lohrey as one of my son Kamaron's fellow senior classmates on the 2004 Raider championship football team. (Kamaron was #1, and his friend Ryan was the bald guy kneeling in front of him.)

The world lost a good young man this past Tuesday afternoon.

Every beekeeper has their own mentor, their go-to person for help, encouragement, advice and wisdom gained through experience.

"Centenarian"..."a person who has lived 100 years"

I am stunned and in shock this morning, as our small community is reeling, shaken to the core by the sudden death of one of our dearest.

This photo sits on my desk, those dancing blue eyes looking at me every day just like they did for 58 years of my life.

Christmas brings out the reminiscing in me...thought I'd republish this post and video from a few years back (2010), of Mama sharing her Carolina childhood Christmas memories...back when life was harder but in many ways a whole lot simpler.  ENJOY!

Mama has some special memories of Christmas as she was growing up in North Carolina in the 1940's and '50's.  Her family may not have had much money, but there was plenty of love to go around and magical memories for a little girl!

Today marks a very sad event in our family...29 years ago our family lost my 11-year-old cousin Sunshine.  In her memory, I am reposting this post from a couple of years ago.  No matter how many years pass, the pain is fresh for her family every single year....

Baby Sunshine (pictured with her family her first Christmas) was born in 1975, just a few weeks following my high school graduation, the younger daughter of my cousin Kennetha.  I'm not sure what day was her birthday, but I remember hearing about her birth at a local summer fair and even though I'd heard others wonder aloud why Kennetha would choose such an unusual name, secretly I loved it.

Sunshine Brandi.

As it turned out, Sunshine's light would only grace this earth for just a few short years.  When she was a little girl of barely eleven years old, Sunshine went to Heaven, the victim of a brutal murder.

Dick and his wife Burma (not pictured...that's Mama in the photo) are dear church friends that Kim and I have known and loved for many years. Even though he'd never met her until Dad's funeral, Dick wanted to give Mama a very special hand-crafted gift.

A flag case for Dad's casket flag.

Almost 4 months later, and I feel like I can finally put together a post about Dad's funeral without sinking into a deep pit of sadness. 

Daddy died on June 12, the day of my first chemo treatment.  Those days were the toughest times of my life so far...losing my dad and fearing for my own life. God walked with me through those darkest days and continues to walk with me, and over the past four months my life has gotten back onto somewhat of an even keel with a new "normal" for all of us.