Family: I love every precious moment that I get to spend with them!!!!!

Since I've been here last I have taken several pictures of beautiful flowers, my two cats Jybow & Squeak, and several videos.  I'm only going to share the most important moments.  

First, because gas prices are getting higher and higher with each passing day, Rick and I drove the Prius to work, that's Rick's work,  I don't work, I just hang around waiting for the year that Rick will eventually retire, and maybe hopefully I'll still be around and able to do things.  On our way home from his job we stopped by KFC for a bite to eat.  The buffet was open for the first time since the beginnings of this Covid-19 pandemic.  

 It's a buffet and we pigged out!  We shouldn't have, but we just couldn't help it.  The food was so good too!  We both decided that we won't be doing that again soon, or we'll weigh 300 lbs for sure.  I even think that the next morning we didn't even bother with breakfast, because we were still full from the buffet.

Next, one of my nieces graduated from High School, Eliana Purcell.  Below is a picture of Eliana, Natasha and Talon at her graduation.  Congratulations Eliana!  I just can't believe how these kids have grown up so fast.  It seems as if my time here on earth is running out and everyday the day just slips away faster than I can think.  Eliana and her siblings are the children of Allison & Jason Purcell, and the grandchildren of Laurel & Dennis Diaz.  We're all so proud of these kids.  

Yesterday I traveled to Boonesboro State Park and visited with my daughter Sharon June who is camping there for a week.  It's Sharon's birthday week and she had so many fun activities planned for her birthday, but that four wheeling accident put a halt to those plans really fast.

Sharon wasn't alone there yesterday.  Megan had stopped in before I arrived and dropped off her two kids, Lyv & Myles, and while I was there Suzanne showed up and then Zac stopped by to drop off Jack, and then Zac had to go on off to an important business meeting in Lexington, Ky.  

I took a picture of the first two great-grandchildren to arrive to spend the week with their grandma Sharon.

I keep forgetting that Sharon is not completely alone while camping.....her cute little pup, Bo is camping there with Sharon.  Bo goes everywhere with Sharon.  That dog has had more outdoor experiences than most people.  There is nothing that dog can't do.  Here is a group picture that Zac took of us before he had to leave.  

And then the last picture is of me after Sharon put my hair in a pony tail so I would feel cooler in the 90 degree heat.

The kids spent their day riding bikes around the campground and seemed to have a great time.  

Lyv had to leave with her dad's mom for a little while and then came back after we had lunch.  Lyv got to go swimming with her granny and she loved it.  She said that she was there with lots of her other cousins and had the best time.

When Suzanne left to go pick up her grandson Carson, Sharon and I loaded up the boys and went into Winchester to Sir Pizza where we picked up a Royal Feast pizza and brought it back to the campground to eat.  The boys, Myles & Jack packed up a lunch (pizza) and rode off on their bikes for their own private picnic, leaving Sharon and I to enjoy a quiet lunch by ourselves.  I stayed until around 4:00 p.m. or maybe a little after and then I started for home.  When I texted Sharon  to tell her that I got home safely, she told me that Suzanne & Carson were on their way back to the campsite.  I'm sure that Carson had a great time playing with his cousins there at Boonesboro, and I wished that I would have stayed longer.

Sharon looked extremely well considering, but she is still very sore and moving about very slowly.  I could still see several bruises even after 3 weeks, and I could just imagine how bruised up and injured she had been.  Her broken bones and spirit will take time to heal, but they will heal and she will see life differently now.  There is nothing like a close call that makes you see life differently, and thru different eyes.  Relationships are better and people are more appreciated, and thankful.  Not that she wasn't thankful and blessed already....sometimes you just can't explain how things change after a close call with death.  

When I got home things didn't go as planned and Rick was upset at me.  But, this morning I found out why and it wasn't me that he was upset at, anyway not entirely me.  We had planned on driving the Prius to London, Ky. around 5:00 a.m. for his job, but we didn't.  

I enjoy going to work with Rick because it's the only time we go anywhere out of the ordinary......out of the ordinary for me anyway, he still has to work but I get a change of scenery.  I miss the days when we worked together because now I don't have anything to fill my time with.  Yes, I could clean house, but what fun is that and who notices anyway?

I miss Brandon Hatcher too & Krystal and if they are reading this.  Sharon will be camping at Boonesboro until Saturday.  Stop by and surprise her.  I'm sure she'd love to see you.  Her birthday is Friday.

Brandon & Krystal

 I got this picture from one of Krystal's Facebook posts.  It's a picture of my grandson, Brandon Hatcher.  Brandon is such a good boy and he looks very happy in this picture, so I stole it off her timeline.  I'm sure that Krystal won't mind.  

Brandon has a birthday coming up on September 10.  He was born in 1994, the year that Jimmy & I were married.  In fact we had just been married for 10 days when Brandon was born, and Jimmy was allowed to go into the ICU to see Brandon before any of us were allowed in.  They said it was because he was his grandfather and grandfather's and dad's had priority.  With some persuading they let me into the ICU too, followed by Suzanne after we came out.

I'm so proud of Brandon.  He's always been such a good boy and now he is a remarkable young man, and I'm proud of the man he has become.  Krystal seems to make him happy and she allows him to be himself.  They are a crazy couple who make me smile.

I love you Brandon!

  

Good Memories of Brian

 

I've always loved this picture of Brian & Brandon.  Brandon was showing his daddy the fish that he had just caught at their Shady Oaks home.  

Family -- Brandon

I'm having fun finding pictures of my wonderful family online.  Here are some pictures of my grandson Brandon G. Hatcher and his girl friend Krystal at a water park this past week or weekend.  Brandon is a good boy, well he is a young man now with huge responsibilities and I'm so proud of him.

I love Brandon's beautiful smile.  When he smiles, it makes me smile.  Brian would be so proud of him, of the responsible young man that he has become.  I misspoke and said that Brian would be so proud of him, but Brian was proud of him, he was always proud of him.

 

The many colors of my grandson Brandon, and his brother Doug

 Brandon has always had such beautiful auburn hair, but as a teenager he loved to change the color of his hair.  It's been jet black followed by  a rainbow of color.  He's always been a good kid, but of course he's in his 20's now, so I can't exactly call him a kid anymore, but he's still a good person.  Make your dad proud Brandon!

I was going to just post pictures of Brandon with his colorful hair, but then I thought it wouldn't be fair not to post some pictures of his older brother Doug too.  So here they are, two of my four grandson's, Brandon and Doug Hatcher.

Brandon's natural hair color (Brandon on the right)

My Son

 My son is no longer with us.  My son is no longer with his family where he is supposed to be.  My son is gone.  He was taken from this life much too soon.  We were not ready.  We didn't have time to prepare.  We didn't have time to say, "Goodbye."  Did he know how much we all loved him?  Did he know how much I would miss him, how much his family would miss him, how much his sisters would miss him?  Did he know how much this little boy, in the picture, needed him in his life?  How much we all needed him in our lives?

Thinking back.......

Brian still had many plans & dreams for his future.  The last day that I got to spend with him, I took him to a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment, then we went shopping.  Brian needed a new warm hat and gloves.  He was planning to do some riding on his scooter and it was still cold outside.  He wanted us to take some short slow rides to break-in his brand new re-built scooter, so that he could eventually take a long ride to visit Reva, Brandon & Doug in Somerset, Ky. when he felt better.  He wasn't feeling very well that day.  

Brian had bought a brand new 2020 150cc Tao Tao that ran perfectly with his first stimulus check.  He tore it down and completely disassembled it and re-built a 170cc scooter with flashing lights, Blue Tooth cell phone and music system, all kinds of gauges & gadgets, longer kickstand, bigger more powerful battery, lots of bells n whistles and two anti-theft alarm systems.  I can't possibly name all the extras that he put on that scooter.  He also had plans to fix my scooter for me.  He was talented that way and very skilled at what he did.  

Brian was naturally smart and could do anything he set his mind to do, and if he was unsure about something, he would do extensive research and make notes and learn all he could about whatever he was researching.  He had a journal of notes that none of us could understand.  

He had an IQ of 165 and got a Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kentucky.  He had a 4.0 GPA and was in the Who's Who of Kentucky Graduates.  His engineering degree  was only one of his many accomplishments, but one he was very proud of.  During his education he helped design a mechanical hand prosthesis that operated using your own body's impulses from the brain to operate it.  There was no end to his abilities, and if he would have been given the chance to leave Cynthiana, him and Reva could have had anything they both desired.  He had many lucrative & exciting job offers, but was forced to remain in Cynthiana making any commute to a good job almost impossible.  Things changed throughout the years, and they finally moved away from Cynthiana and ended up back here in Berea for a while.  

During Brian's last year of life, he moved back here to Berea by himself to live out the last year of his life.  I enjoyed having him near, but he missed his family and hoped that they would join him here, and he almost got his wish before he died, almost.

I miss my son very much.  I think of him daily and he is always in my thoughts and in my prayers, day and night.  I pray that he didn't suffer, and that he just fell asleep and never woke up.  I pray that he wasn't upset or depressed, and that he just fell asleep while watching TV.  There was no autopsy, so the manner of his death will never be known for sure.  The coroner just called it a heart attack on site and that was that.

I LOVE YOU BRIAN!!!

REST IN PEACE

Remembering Brian

 Today I'm thinking about my son Brian again.  He's been on my mind, day and night, since the day he died and especially now.  I guess it is because it's Spring, and we had planned on riding our scooters together and going fishing.  He had given me a small telescopic fishing pole, like his, so that we could carry them in our scooters.

Here is a picture of Brandon showing his dad the fish that he caught in the pond at Shady Oaks.  I think it was a small bluegill.  Brian and his family moved in there after the death of Brian's dad, James E. Hatcher around 2001.  It was nice having them live there so close, where I could stop and visit them anytime I wanted to.  Sharon also lived right next door too, so I could visit two of my children at the same time, as they both lived on the property named Shady Oaks in Rockcastle County.  Shady Oaks was heavily forested in oak trees but also had lots of Dogwood trees and in the Springtime it was beautiful there with all the Dogwoods in bloom.  It now has one Redbud tree too.

Here is another picture of Brian in the Spring/Summer of 2020 when he and I stopped in there to check on the place (Shady Oaks).  He lived in town now in an apartment by himself.  Brian took his fishing pole with him and on his very first cast, with an artificial bait, he caught this large mouth bass.  We planned on returning but unfortunately we put it off for too long and never got to go fishing together again.  Brian went fishing by himself in other places, but this was the last time he fished in the pond at the cabin.  

In the old garden area of the cabin the neighbors had planted flowers, and Brian was never one who could resist picking flowers.  The whole garden area was filled with all colors of beautiful flowers, but Brian just picked one.  If Reva would have been there he surely would have given it to her.  This reminds me of one of the times that I drove him to one of his doctor's appointments.  It was during the Covid-19 pandemic so he had to wait in the car until he was called in for his appointment.  But while we were sitting in the car, Brian noticed that right in front of the large office windows were beautiful rose bushes in full bloom, and he couldn't resist.  He got out of the car, headed straight to those rose bushes and began picking the flowers.  I know that the employees could clearly see him, but nobody came out and told him to stop.  He didn't pick many, and then he came back into the car and we cut the top out of a plastic throwaway water bottle and stuck the roses in water.  Of course they were for Reva.  He always had Reva on his mind, and she was waiting for him at his apartment.  He loved giving her flowers.  He was such a romantic and she was the love of his life.     

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMMY WALLACE!

Today is Jimmy Wallace's birthday.  It's hard for me to believe that he would have been 83 years old if the cancers hadn't killed him.  He was so healthy and perfect, except for the cancers.  Yes, I say perfect because he was perfect.  He was all I wanted in a husband and we were very happy.  It's hard for people to believe that Jimmy and I never argued about anything.  This doesn't mean that we thought alike, but only that we respected each others opinions and didn't criticize each other for having differences.  We got along great because we enjoyed each others company.  We spent 24 hours a day together enjoying life and of course each other.  We never took each other for granted and told each other that we loved them almost daily.  The love that we had for each other wasn't just in the spoken word, but in our actions towards each other.  It was in the way we treated each other.  

I read a little verse yesterday, but it didn't have an author, but I'm going to quote it here in remembrance of Jimmy.

Jimmy,

Today is your birthday.

"Remembering you is easy,

I do it every day.

Missing you is the heartache,

That will never go away."

Jimmy, Thank you for the spectacular sunrise this morning.  I know that it was you reaching out to me from Heaven.  I felt your presence just as soon as I stepped outside to witness such a beautiful sight.  You always did know how to cheer me up :)

Below is a special poem for Jimmy