A tragic loss of life

If you recall, I wrote the other night about my nephew, Tommy, taking his own life in late January. He just turned 34 at the end of October, much too young to die. His mom died of cancer on CHRISTmas Eve 2002 and he pretty much lost touch with his family since then. I had his e-mail address and would write every now and again just to check in. When his grandma died in August of 2007 he had not checked his e-mail for a while and totally missed getting the message. From that time on he gave me his cell phone number and he already had mine, so we could keep in touch.

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He did that during the summer when he called me to get a recipe. Yes, you read that correctly---he wanted a recipe from me!!!! He was hungry for a family favorite called "Hamburger Corn Pone Pie" and amazingly so, I laid my hands on it immediately for him. He filled me in, joyously, on the new lady in his life and her children. Tommy had big plans for putting in landscaping around their shared home, and I was looking up the plants he was talking about as we spoke, so I did not sound toooooo uniformed. He was just like his mother, talking endlessly about little of substance for over an hour. I did manage to throw a caution about jumping into anything, etc. with his "fiance" but did encourage him as far as settling down and such. He seemed to be on top of the world, at that time.

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On CHRISTmas Day he sent me a late night text message wishing me a Merry CHRISTmas and told me how much he liked the new bench grinder his fiance, Jeanna, had given him. Around ThanksLiving or so, Tommy asked me to text him my mailing address so he could send a CHRISTmas card so I got his address too, while I was at it. I shared it with Mona in case Arno wished to send a card for CHRISTmas, but I don't know if that happened or not.

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Judy and Tommy Connors from many years ago..........

Justin got the mailing address for Tommy's father who lives in the Detroit area so I can mail him a card. But, what do I say in it?? I can offer sympathy to EJ but he barely knew his son anymore. When last I spoke with EJ, he did not offer any acknowledgement that he was a believer in His Savior, and in fact, had objected to Judy attending worship when they were still married. Judy and EJ were divorced awhile before Judy got sick. What a mess!

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Family has been good about keeping me up to speed on the funeral arrangements and such, plus Justin has an "inside line" to what is going on. Justin indicated that Judy's ashes are going to be buried with Tommy's, which is appropriate. He had kept her ashes with him and had told me he was coming to see me, to spread his mom's ashes in the ocean, which is what she wanted done with them. Tommy never came.

Oh, I am so sad!

Well, I came home to an empty house. At least it is empty for a while. Joanne said she is going to call it a short day and try to get her bedroom straightened away as her daughter, Heather, arrives tomorrow. Another guest to stay at Day's Inn!!! I already washed and dried the sheets after Linda used them and will redress the bed before Heather gets here. This will be the first of Joanne's children that I am meeting and so will be on my best behavior, of course!

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As far as I know, Linda is in the air somewhere over GA about now, heading for Minneapolis. She changes planes there and then flies to MKE to meet Tommy, who is coming on a direct flight from Las Vegas. She arrives about 30 minutes before Tommy does and then they drive home to Manitowoc together, getting home before midnight. Perfect if no one has a flat tire or a storm interferes with either flight. Boy, I miss her already!

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We had such a great morning at Bible study and then lunch with some of the ladies. There was much laughter taking place, to the point where Gretchen made the comment that we were going to make her wet her pants---Linda piped up, "That's why we sit on towels!" which made all of them laugh even more. This was while we were still at church so I encouraged them to go in and use the bathroom before we got to the restaurant. We were discussing our fishing trip and Ethel was telling about Linda and how sick and miserable she was. Tommy had the best time of any of those fishing but the three of us (Justin, Linda, and me) were so ready to go back home! Gives us lots to laugh about now, though.

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Before going in to Bible study, I heard Gretchen calling to me from the parking lot. I parked on the black top and she was on the grass, something she never does. Gretchen had a pink gift bag in her hand which she gave to me! Aw, so sweet.....Inside was a glass heart, flat, with a ribbon through the top for hanging purposes. On the face of the heart were the words: Be still, and know that I am God. I grabbed her around the neck and hugged the stuffings out of her! She knows how "valuable" that particular passage is to me, and so does Linda now after watching the funeral service video yesterday. Wow, can anyone have such great, thoughtful friends as do I????

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Gretchen told me that maybe, just maybe, she would have to think about it, she might watch the funeral service with me. Linda said it was okay, it took her this long to get the courage up to watch it, and is so glad she did. We looked like heck afterward but still..........it always does my heart good to watch the service and hear that amazing message. And it is all I can do to refrain from calling Pete and thanking him for what he did, for us and for the congregation and for the community. Thanks belong to God who gave him the strength and the gift to do so.

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I miss Linda already!

"It's the wood that makes it good..."

Linda and I are sitting once again in front of the TV watching episode upon episode of, yes, "Seinfeld". We just wanted to see a few more chuckles and guffaws before she leaves late this afternoon. Her bags are all packed and ready to go, the sheets are in the washer, and our feet are up. Linda has a lot of leg swelling so whenever we are at home, she keeps her legs up. Funny, but it often seems when the legs go up, her eyes go shut! A couple times now I've awakened her with my outbursts of laughter. She is awake now because "The Roaster" is on which really tickles my funny bone. Jerry ends up in Kramer's apartment because the red light from the rooster on the chicken restaurant was causing Kramer to have problems with his "rods and cones"!!!! That kills me every time!

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Orbitz just called and informed Linda that her flight is on time, and I didn't even see the ring circling her head like on the commercial on TV shows. Now, it is a wonderful service they offer but I would think it would be more helpful to let her know if it is NOT on time. Anyway, time to go to the airport! More later!!!