Mom

Many of you are already aware that my mother passed away peacefully under hospice care at 6:00 this morning. Knowing the end was sooner rather than later, local family members got to spend a lot of time with her this final week. My daughter Emily and I spent several hours with her last night, holding her hands and talking to her. My sister Vanita and her husband were there quite late, as well.

This picture is from Sunday afternoon. Vanita spent an incredible amount of time caring for Mom in the final days. This picture shows Vanita feeding her and my grandson holding her hand.

My Mom was a believer in Christ, and is now in a far better place than she has ever been in her life. She had just turned 90 10 days before she died. Scroll down to "older posts" to see her early celebration we had just 3 weeks ago.

End of Trip

July 26, 2009

Almost home, we stopped to see my mother at her nursing home. Hannah helped my sister Vanita feed my mom her liquid nutrition. Currently unable to speak or see, touch is very important to her, so Hannah and Austin both held her hand.

July 25, 2009

34 YEARS LATER


En route back to Texas this afternoon, we took a slight detour to visit the campus of my Alma Mater. The University was, of course, thrilled to see me. I snuck back onto campus on a Saturday afternoon in summer.

July 24, 2009

Laurel Falls, elev. 2820 ft.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
July 24, 2009

Picnicking along the Little T River in east Tennessee.
(The icy cold water felt really good on my sore and burning feet)
7/24/09

July 23, 2009

Today we drove through Kentucky and east Tennessee, and saw some real geology. This afternoon, we swam in a mountain lake. As Bill Cosby has observed, the water in mountain lakes generally comes from melted snow, and it never really gets warm. I am trying to estimate how far I swam, but think one should get double credit for meters swam, if they were done with a passenger on the back.

July 22, 2009

Went there, did that, had a lot of fun. We also visited Lincoln's Birthplace National Historical Site, but it was raining too hard to take a picture there.