The end of an amazing weekend

If you recall, my week started out with a thump upon learning of the drownings of the two little girls in Argyle, not far from my church. I am yet heartsick for their family, knowing the long road toward regained footing they face.

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Monday night brought the church ladies were over to hold our Ladies' Group meeting and a social event which was just a smash! A great balance for the sorrow earlier that day.

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Tuesday and Thursday were the water aerobics classes and the special social time this offers, especially with Maggie and Randy, the Cole Porter guy. Wednesday our plans to hold Happy Hour at the neighboring establishment fell flat due to the deluge which rolled through right at the time we were to meet. I had gotten my hair cut that day and stopped to see my friends at Hang Ups. It was a delightful time but since I had to stop at the store, I had to leave before the heavens opened. But just barely! As I drove toward home, the heavens again released its overflow of accumulated moisture on us, complete with lightning flashes and thunder rolls. Late into the night this continued making our plans null and void. No worries, always something else to do instead!

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Thursday were plans to go with a group to Koko's but for one reason or another, the rest dropped off, leaving Kathy B. and I to enjoy the nice lunch. We both had "business" at Great Hang Ups and it was nice to visit once more in the week. Dee had left only moments before we came in to be with a friend whose husband was in the hospital (next to the word "FRIEND" in the dictionary is a picture of Dee!) so we missed her. Julia was happy to see us, though, and Kathy talked to her about some potential commissioners for the gallery. That evening was the themed dinner with only one empty place left at the table. Still some delicious leftovers in the fridge, waiting for me to polish them off!

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The pool was visited as often as possible this week, between storms, and Saturday was nearly a day-long event of pool time. Although I was out of the water to eat my lunch, the hot dog and pasta salad, most of the 5-6 hours I was out there was spent baking in the water. Hiss, sizzle, hiss as the sun did its thing to my skin....Jessica, my upstairs neighbor, asked me if I was trying to change my race by getting so dark. Miss Chardonnay and Jessica played several hands of Rumikub and were later joined by Ashley Rose who came down to "play" with us. She has no swimwear so could not swim at all, but burns extremely easily, even sitting under the umbrella she was red! Later we reconvened on the 2nd floor sundeck until just before dark. I love spending time with my neighbors and friends! And witnessed three weddings between Saturday and this afternoon!!! Cha-ching for The Club!

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This morning I attended Bible study and worship at Victory. It had been my plan to do so and to have the Vance's there was simply the icing on the cake, as it were. The Bible study was a repeat of the study I attended during the week, before summer began, The Truth Project, with the theme today being about "The State: Whose Law?". I know Justin would have been extremely interested in this topic. While in the class I got a text message from him, asking me to the movies and setting up a time for them. He did not know I was at Victory---SURPRISE! He just said, "Okay, I will see you in a few..." and he did!

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The service was wonderful, with singing "Just As I Am", and finishing with "In Christ Alone". A couple people on Facebook reported either singing or having it played for them today as well. Such a perfect hymn, and I could hear Duane's voice coming from behind me. We sit up closer so Justin can hear better, this time on the piano side as Rachel was absent today. Victory also welcomed a large number of transferred members, the majority of them from "my" church, so they had 23 people lined up across the front....and Pastor got almost all the names correct!

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Justin and I hung around after church (really?) so I could get a picture with the Vances. He said normally he just leaves but today Justin didn't mind hanging out and talking with some of the guys in the 20 Something group he is part of. I got to see many many people there I know, and since we usually attend on Saturday evenings when they have worship, Sundays bring everyone together at once. A good amount of hugging and hand shaking went on, plus I got to hug on a little fellow whom I will miss at Good Shepherd....Zach told me once that he had two friends at church---his grandma and Miss Kim! Sweet boy!

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After church we took my car over to the Mall to grab some lunch before the movie. As he got into my car, the music came on rather loudly, and he asked, "What kind of hippy music are you listening to now?" since he knew it was not Sarah Brightman. I explained it was Leonard Cohen and he was hardly a hippy, he usually is sporting a full suit and fedora, and is 75 years-old now! He would have been more of a beatnik in his day, more a poet/song writer than singer, which came later.

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Justin and I had lunch at Steak 'n Shake, with me having something from their new menu, a Wisconsin Butter Burger!! Like Culvers! According to Justin, they even matched Culver's font on the menu, and the flavor was all that I remember of my last butter burger. No need to go up to WI just for a decent butter burger! Which leads me into the movie we watched, "Julie and Julia"!!! My, how we laughed! Julia Child, played masterfully by Meryl Streep, can talk of nothing but butter, and we could hear audible ooohs and aahhhs as the actresses/chefs prepared the most marvelous looking delights onscreen. Justin kept giving me the elbow when he saw or heard something from "Julia" that reminded him of me, like her expressions and her sense of humor. At points he was even stamping his foot with laughter, it was such a great movie!!! It was so good, in fact, that as we walked out, I told him, "I almost feel like cooking!" We had a great day together in worship, singing "In Christ Alone" (I saw him doing some quick blinking at the end of the hymn....my boy!) and then our fun afternoon....can't ask for much better than that!

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Back to Cohen: I knew of his work since the late 60's when the female folk singers I liked covered his songs. My bro-in-law David, gave me a CD he compiled of our "old favorites" last summer, containing music from when Lori and I were younger, like the late '60's. He included some sung instead by the original artist, which totally changes the impact for me, as compared to hearing it sung by Judy Collins. It seems my upstairs neighbor, Michelle, is also a fan of Cohen's music, and I boldly asked her if I could borrow her CDs to load onto my computer for listening at home. Justin played a song for me on his iPhone, asking if I knew the artist and of course, I did! It was Bob Dylan and he said he is loving Dylan's music more and more these days. Talk about an old hippy! I am loving this as he discovers now the music I grew up on!

Basking once more in the sun...

....while yet in my rooms! The sun is simply beaming in on me, making me squint ever so slightly against the glare. I must be careful to not add to the "sunbursts" around my eyes, which were nicely pointed out to me by Justin. I told you that I prefer them being called sunbursts, he claims I smile too much at the pool, than to refer to the medical term of "crow's feet"! Laugh lines are the more preferable description. Justin would also like for me to take my laptop to the pool area so I can write from there but the battery is not sufficient to support operating the machine at any length. One option would be to plug in while in the cabana but then I would be out of touch, so to speak, with the "live" world....

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He also thinks he figured out why I get the pink warning box when I am on Facebook. His theory is that Facebook thinks I am a computer, answering people's updates or status' things at random. Justin said, "Most people just put in their two cents' worth, but you put in a buck fifty!!". Thanks, Justin!

*Sitting in the chair, strangely enough, is Timmy, in one his camp shirt and short outfits made by Grandma K. Facing the camera is Rachel, looking like a little angel. Julie Harris is watching over the VBS kids while June Hanvey digs in the cabinet for supplies.

*WARNING:

On the subject of the "live" world, I was contacted on Facebook by a former member of Good Shepherd, the daughter of my friend, Judy H., who moved to Knoxville a few years ago. Rachel has a special place in my heart, being a Sunday school classmate of Timmy's. When Timmy died, we had a visitation period before the funeral service started at the church. Rachel came up to where I was sitting, and simply buried her face in my lap, as her mom stood to the side. After a moment, I looked up at Judy and she had the look of "what should I do?" and I motioned to just leave her. Rachel could stay as long as she needed to. She was a bit older than Timmy and felt the loss quite strongly, and expressed it as only a child can. No wait, I take that back.....when Cindy S. finally allowed herself to come to the house, she, too, buried her face in my lap.....

More music today....

Last night after the themed-dinner had wrapped up, I sat on the loveseat for a bit with my feet up, thinking I would sit and argue with Facebook a bit more about the warnings I am receiving. Instead, I found such a lovely message from Rachel, the music director at Victory. She sent me the following video with the message: "I know you and Justin love this hymn":

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0th-KRASl20

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There is a slide show which accompanies the hymn, sung by the WELS Honor Choir at the Worship Conference last summer, which my friend, Judy R., was privileged to attend, as was Robbie, The Maestro. While yes, I do very very much love this anthem, it was the slide show which blew me away. At about the 3:52 counter, a picture pops up of our Savior holding a small boy in His arms that closing resembles Timmy. Lisa thought so, too, and presented me with this same picture, cross stitched, with the text from "I'm But A Stranger Here" affixed to the back. Our dear pastor, Pete Prange, sang that hymn at Timmy's graveside service, all the stanzas. Mom wishes we could have had that recorded as well, but....

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Not too long ago I had the cross stitched piece reframed by Dee as well a couple companion pieces, and they are the first things I see when I open my eyes in the morning, besides the sunshine, of course. The text of the hymn is still on the back, preserved there by Dee, as well.

The "Monk" in me is upset to have the left picture a bit crooked, but I did not change it for the photo. The crooked one is appropriately so, because it is the last painting Timmy did, painted on the Saturday evening before he died. Justin and I call it "The Exploding Birthday Cake" but a psychiatrist might have another view of it. He also painted one for Pastor Prange and presented it to him the next morning before Sunday school.

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Lisa brought this to my house in Florida, presenting me first with a gift-wrapped box of tissues and then the framed picture. After the sobbing had subsided, she also told me that if she never sees a strand of blue thread again, it will be too soon! Guess that is a whole lotta blue in this piece. But I cherish the thought and every single stitch....."Jesus, in mercy bring us to that dear land of rest..."

*Yesterday I spent my morning poolside and in the pool with the water aerobics class. Maggie and I were going to have lunch at Koko's but she had a schedule conflict so had to ask for a rain check. Ellen's back was bothering her again so she was staying in as well, which left Kathy B. and me having lunch and visiting Great Hang Ups. We did just that, chatted with Julia, and then took a ride through Eagle Harbor so I could show Kathy where I used to live and build. We headed down 220 and sure enough, there came Justin off the street where the new office building is located. I waved like nuts and he wave nicely as we passed each other, and two seconds later, he called me. "Mom, are you going to have another mammogram?" Just because I was on the THAT street does not mean I was having another mammo done. I explained that Kathy was with me, (he did not see her in the car) and that we were seeing the sights of Eagle Harbor, so nothing to worry about. He proceeded to tell me I had my last one on St. Patrick's Day because he saw me that day also. Usually I will ask him what I was wearing, because he recalls those type of things. Justin has an uncanny ability to remember minutia like this, even so far as remembering the song on the radio at the time. He calls it his "psychosis" but I really think he means neurosis, because he worries about things that do not require concern. Anyway, I was moved to have him get concerned about me possibly having another mammogram, and I know I can depend on him if I ever am in need of special care!

Thursday already?

This is a view looking down onto the 2nd floor sundeck area, next to the elevator tower. The fellows, the same ones who thought I was talking about Michael Jackson when I mentioned the historic moon walk, are painting the highlight color on the rail. Over his head you can see the new enclosure of the electrical equipment next to the steps to the pool. Everything but the parking lot and driveway will be nice and fresh soon!

A separate subcontractor is busily and noisily using a jack hammer to remove the metal frames and supports from inside the skylights which are over the attached parking garages. They are open to the 2nd floor sundeck now with plans being made to possibly leave them essentially "open", with some protective lattice work or similar over them. This might help alleviate some of the "back-up" of water under the floor tiles and then dripping of goo onto the cars in the parking garage during rain storms. I guess there were originally drains to handle the run-off but upon inspection, found the drains had been plugged. Ooops! Sometimes "band-aid" repairs are not the answer!

This man wants to play peek-a-boo with me and my camera. You would think HE was the one caught in his nightgown in the bedroom window! My downstairs neighbor, Tracy, has an open balcony on her unit and she said she heard a tapping at the sliding glass doors as she was reading her paper....SURPRISE! These guys are stealth! When I came back from the pool yesterday, one of the men asked me what color he should paint the balusters pictured here. I stammered around because this was really not my call, but when he pointed out the medallions he had painted with the accent color, I told him to go ahead and use the creamy-colored paint for these. I had not served on the color selection team for this project as I had my own at church, and I would have opted for a more "South Beach" look anyway---and been shot down, of course!

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"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." II Chron. 7:14

I turned on my A/C this morning!!!

I am sweating here! Sitting in the full sun in my bedroom window yet in my nightie and I am hot! Perspiration, the polite word, is running from my face onto my neck and I am not complaining one bit. In a few minutes I will be downstairs in the pool cooling off but first wanted to send out a few lines. I have already freaked out the painters as they caught me off-guard this early morning, moving up and down the building on their scaffold. I was wearing my nightie. It is a quite respectable nightie but I made myself sit as tightly against my desk as I could so nothing was obvious except my smiling face as they stopped outside my window to paint the window sill. Move along, nothing to see here, just move along....I cannot type sitting that tightly against my desk!!!

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For sure I have to go down to swim and such because I am now out of cold diet soda in my fridge. I have a bottle of regular Coke and some Mountain Dew left from the recent parties, which will do in a pinch but I have two 12-packs yet in the back of my car. I know, I know, it can explode from the heat but that has only happened once and I got over it. The roll of the dice!

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Thursday night is our themed dinner here and so far I have only two replies in the affirmative. Well, the three of us will be eating good, that is for sure. If this continues, I may have to shake things up a bit. That's what happens being gone for the June dinner, our entire system is thrown off!

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Yesterday our aerobics leader had a pet emergency (I know, I don't get it either) but the group still got together and did our own pseudo-workout-social outing. My biggest fan, Randy, brought me four CDs of Cole Porter music, one with Sinatra singing Porter's greatest love songs. The photo shows Frank singing while holding a cigarette----my, we've come a long way, baby! That is so not politically correct unless one is a superstar of some type. Oh, wait, Frank IS a superstar! The titles, as Randy assured me they would, do look familiar but I have yet to give them a listen. Randy brought a biography of the Gershwins for Maggie O. to read, just sharing the love, that Randy!

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Music, Music, Music! My whole day, or rather, much of it, was about music. The conversations with Maggie and Randy were about show tunes and the best Broadway-type productions, as Maggie was a drama teacher from many years, most recently at Ed White HS. It was when one of the ladies at the pool tried to order lunch from The Club that it occurred to us that since The Club was closed this week for renewing or something, there would be NO HAPPY HOUR this Wednesday. Randy plays the piano sometimes for HH so he is glad to know not to bring all his song books with him. Being creatures of habit, this threw a wrench into the plans made for this week.

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Since Pastor's wife came home from the hospital last night, he wants to spend their wedding anniversary with her instead of us "Outreach people". Okay, I get that and appreciate it. Thursday she begins the chemo treatments and might not feel like going out on the weekend, so celebrate tonight! I made several calls and contacts via the Internet to try to reach folks to reschedule for Thursday, freeing up my Wednesday, except they will have to do it without me due to my dinner! Hey, I could have the Outreach meeting here around my table....nah, that would be way too many more phone calls to make!

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Back to the music: I hope no one grows weary of hearing/reading about music, because it plays a major role in my heart and life. Most often it is the music of the church but recently I have been inundated with music secular in nature. Joni Mitchell has a song called "Heart and Mind" that is rattling about in mine. I played a little "game" on facebook that was sent to me by another music lover and while I normally do not participate, this one caught my fancy. There were a series of blanks to fill in, using only the songs titles by an artist of my choosing, and I picked Joni. I sent it to a newly refound high school friend and he could not complete it without using the same singer, which was against the rules of the game. Nuts! It was fun to fill in the blanks, surprisingly many of the song titles fit so perfectly.

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Steve was a classmate through high school and we shared a love of music, he actually being and becoming a performing artist in his grown-ups years. I find myself only on the receiving end of the music, and singing in the car or the privacy of my rooms. Church singing is entirely different and I will do that at the slightest provocation. The torch singing is quite another matter. I sang karaoke publicly, other than with family, on board a cruise ship in 2000 with a rather small, appreciative group. The song I chose was "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton and although I lost my place and seemed to be off-key, my "group" thought it was great....

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Here I go about the 8-tracks again---the Saturday of Justin's party here, I had to open the cupboard to have access to a lamp's on/off switch and saw the tapes in there. Later when the guests were here, I passed some around as there are people alive now who never saw an 8-track before. Sure enough, in my stack of tapes was one sent to me by Steve, the fellow from my high school days! Yesterday I received an e-mail from him which included lyrics of songs he has published, some of which are in contention with a co-writer over ownership. He has an excellent though expensive entertainment attorney going into battle with him over the rights. One of the songs was written with me in mind, all these many years after high school!!!! To say I was touched and moved is inadequate. I hope Steve wins the battle, earning back the rights to his songs!

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Just when I am getting a big head to go with the rest of me, my friend, Ed from Victory, sent me another "game" to play on facebook. I only took a look at it out of curiosity and was sorry I did so. The game was a listing of the 100 most popular books and the game was to put a check mark behind any of the books we have read. Well, much to my embarrassment, there were very few listed where I could put my X, besides the Bible, and I have not read the entire book there either....

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Many are classics, such as Wuthering Heights (I saw the movie, does that count??) while others are more contemporary fiction. In my own defense, however, I did complete a book Sunday morning before church, "I Love You, Ronnie" which were the letters Ronald Reagan wrote to Nancy when they were courting and all through their married life until he could no longer write. It was a sweet memoir, heartwarming. I know that many of my readers are fans of fiction while my reading is mostly non-fiction. Judy R. says that makes us balanced! I will run with that! Besides, how many can say they have had songs written about them?

On a lighter note....

.......Lisa is telling me about how the boys, Manny and Gabe, are enjoying their VBS program at church. Last night's story was about Daniel in the lion's den and Manny quite animatedly retold the lesson to Lisa. They made picture frames in class which are now gracing Lisa's refrigerator door! It warms my heart to know the boys enjoy VBS so much and "love to tell the story"!

Here are Gabe, Manny, and Noah (that's a different Bible story!) in a lion's den themselves, this one being at Clark's Fish Camp last August.

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I did hear some sad news last night at Ladies' Group, held here, regarding another person losing their job at Busch. Kelly T. told me about it, and took my breath away momentarily, although those employees realize it is all a matter of time until it is their turn to get the axe. Anheuser Busch is no longer American-owned, although I doubt it would make much difference in this job market, and high level folks have been let go from every "shop". This is getting quite close to home as our sister congregation at Victory has several members on the payroll at A-B, a really great place to work----at least it used to be!

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I goofed! I totally forgot to take any pictures of our Ladies' Group gathering here last night. These type of photos are valuable tools for encouraging others to participate, when the ladies are shown doing something other than working! Yes, we were conducting our meeting but immediately we flowed into our fellowship time which Twila remarked was so much more fun around a big table than scattered like it is at church. I am all for it, but that is probably not an option. Soon we will have our Fellowship Hall back for Bible study and meeting purposes. This should make a big difference in our meeting enjoyment as well as our Bible study time. Around a table makes for group tightening!

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Time to head downstairs for water aerobics and some chatter! More later, I hope!

I will miss Steinmart!

Once more the heavens have opened and rains pour on our freshly painted surfaces at The Palace. Perhaps the silicone content of the paint product prevents it from being affected after it is applied to the surface. I wish the men suspended outside my window would go back down and into safety because the lightning is freaking me out and I am inside!

At this point the men have removed the old caulk and putty from around the windows and applied new sealant into the cracks and crevices. My prayer and hope is that this will do the trick when it comes to the driving rains off the river finding their way into my house! At least around my windows and patio doors! Once the rain lets up today I must go back downstairs to get more of my grocery purchases as I only carried up the refrigerated items this trip. The man pressure washing the parking garages offered to help me carry the stuff in my arms upstairs but I respectfully, perhaps foolishly, declined.

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My eyes feel goofy after weeping so hard this morning when I read about the drowning of those two little girls. Oh, my goodness, it was as though a switch was flipped inside me, wracking sobs for this family as I identify with their grief. It was truly an accident, no one's fault, I hope they know this, but certainly those thoughts run through heads and hearts. It is a wound deep to the soul and like my mom said, she hopes they have someone in their lives like our Pastor to remind them the Lord is in control of these things. My eyes looked okay for going to the store, thanks to a little eye shadow and mascara!

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There was something so heartwarming to counter the heart ache of earlier today, at Publix. An elderly lady was checking out in front of me, a cart heaped with a mixture of purchases. She looked at me as she unloaded in a rather apologetic way for taking so long in getting the cart emptied. Of course, I just smiled at her and said I usually end up with more than I intended to buy when I go shopping. She was sort of weary looking and I heard her tell the Manager who was bagging the groceries as well as the Assistant Manager who was checking that she did not feel good. The male manager asked her if she was okay to drive and offered to drive her home. My heart was repaired!!!! The lady declined his offer but then I made the remark about the storm was about to set in, as I could see the trees moving dramatically in the wind. The lady then agreed to let him drive her home, and another assistant manager would follow them to drive him back. When it was my turn to check out, I thanked the female manager for taking such good care of this lady, and she said, "We don't want anything bad to happen to our customers" and I replied, "That is what sets Publix apart!" This was the Eagle Harbor store in case you want to take your business there from now on!

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The other day we heard that our Eagle Harbor/Fleming Island Steinmart was going out of business. Closing its doors. Imagine that!?! According to the press release, the store was just not profitable and the decision to close it, as well as other under-producing stores was made, due in part to the opening of the Kohl's, just down the road a piece. Although it has been a while since I have shopped at Steinmart, it holds a warm place in my heart....Of course, there is a story coming: warning

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In December of 2000, after moving into our new home in The Preserve, we were having a party! This surprises you??? Anyway, I believe it was the one for our employees and Timmy and I were at Publix to start buying supplies. As inevitably happened, Timmy had to go to the bathroom---stinkies, as he referred to it. Frustrated, I pulled my not yet full cart to the side and escorted him into the handicap stall in the ladies' restroom. I got him situated on the high potty and he proceeded to make regular deposits, he was not lying about having to go. BUT, (not butt), every little while, he was compelled to lean wwwaayy forward and peer into the potty to see his deposits. He would then leap off the toilet because it was an automatic flusher---as soon as he leaned over, the potty flushed! And freaked him out! After doing this more than once, I got impatient (now it's funny, but then...not too much!), and decided to check out with the groceries I had already and take him home to finish his potty.

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That day, though, we had purchased red and green plasticware, napkins, and accessories for dressing our table festively. Timmy took quite a liking to the green knives and forks, so when it was time for us to go CHRISTmas shopping for his daddy's present from him, Timmy, when asked, told me he wanted to buy a green shirt. Okay, good, at least we knew where to start our search. Timmy carried along one of the green plastic knives to Steinmart and I let him tell the saleslady what he wanted to buy. The clerk and he wandered the racks looking for a green shirt to match his green knife and they came up with one! She thought he was just the cutest thing, and I found out later how she shared this story with her family around the dinner table.

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Less than a month later, Justin and his dad were shopping at Steinmart again, using the same salesday, who helped them find a suit for Justin to wear to his brother's funeral. Either the lady remembered Justin on her own or he told her, I am not sure, but she was upset to hear it was Timmy who had drowned. The same lady, smiling about Timmy one day, weeping about him less than a month later. I still have the knife, or a piece of it, in the memory box in the hallway.....and Roger had immediately quit wearing the shirt, to put it away for posterity. Yes, I will miss Steinmart.........