Pictures for Brandon

Here are two more pictures that Brandon requested a copy of.  My computer no longer works properly, so I can't send him the pictures to his phone or to his messenger account.  So here they are..........

This is the first time Reva ever purposely let me take a picture of her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN

 Happy Birthday to my fun loving son Brian, who would have been 60 years old today.  He never thought he would live long enough to see his 60th birthday, and he was right.  

Even tho I'm missing him today I do know that he is in heaven with his sweet wife Reva.  

After spending Brian's last year running around with him I'm convinced that he is in heaven.  I got to know that side of him really well and his faith and his heart were definitely in the right place. I think he knew he didn't have much time left.

 I'm so thankful that I got to spend that precious time, his last year,  with him, just him and I.  We talked about life, our feelings and how we got to where we were.  We rode scooters together and just generally hung out most days, going out to eat and eating his home cooking too.  Brian often baked homemade desserts and sent them home with me for Rick and I.  He loved to cook, spent lots of time keeping his apartment as clean as it could be.  He loved a clean house, and he loved his family and missed them very much.  He talked about his sons, the grandchildren that he was looking forward to seeing one day, his current grandchildren and, Reva and how much he missed them.  He was planning on getting back together with Reva.  That was his goal.   

All these pictures of Brian were taken on a family trip to Williamstown, Kentucky to a water park there.  We had so much fun.  Jimmy came up in the afternoon to join us on his motorcycle, and the next day when it was time for all of us to part, I rode home with Jimmy on his bike.  

Here are a couple more pictures of our waterpark trip.

The picture of Brandon and Brian is not a waterpark picture, my mistake.  It was from another family trip that we took.  The picture was taken in Tennessee on our way home from a White Water Rafting motorcycle trip which included Sharon's entire family also. We went on so many family fun trips together, and sometimes it's hard to keep the pictures all straight.

Well,  Happy Birthday Brian!  The dash (-) between the day of your birth, and the day of your death were spectacular and I was always so proud of you and I wouldn't have missed not one day of your life for all the money in the world.  I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Rhododendrons.....Remembering Brian & Our Neighbors, The Holt's

My Rhododendron bush blossoms are just beginning to open up and one bush is further along than the other.  Here are some pictures of the bush that is blooming at the moment.  The other bush is still in the bud stage, but the buds are beginning to open, as I already said.  I think that they are so pretty and my only wish is that the blooms would last all summer.

It has been raining all morning, so the blossoms are wet, but I think they look pretty with raindrops all over them.  The sun has just popped out and it is supposed to be a warm day today, 75 degrees F.

As I gaze at the beauty of these flowers, I can't help but think of my son Brian, who loved flowers so much and how he would have loved to have seen these.  I can just imagine that he would have wanted to pick some of the large clusters of flowers, put them in water, and give them to Reva.  His thoughts were always of how she would love the flowers that he would give her.  He was such a romantic, and we all miss him so much.  To be honest, he had a stubborn streak like me too, but we don't miss that.  I had to smile when I thought of that too.  Just thinking of Brian makes me smile and feel sad at the same time.

 My thoughts are also drawn to my neighbors large Rhododendron which always blooms before mine.  It has never failed to be in full bloom before mine, except for this year.  They both passed away and I'm reminded of the year that Jimmy died when none of our flowers bloomed the following Spring, and Juanita and Blonde Holt both passed away last year and their flowers are not blooming this Spring either.    

I'll be glad when the holidays are over....

It's Sunday and I heard on the news this morning that we got some snow flurries during the night, but there is no sign of snow or rain this morning.  

Brian got his hair cut yesterday and he looks so much neater now.

He still misses Reva, and I miss Rick.  We keep ourselves amused by watching movies, napping and playing cards.  We did make a trip to Kroger's to buy some of those mini taquitos, the ones that look like miniature tacos, but they're all gone now.  I hadn't been in that store for years.  Their parking lot is just too crowded for comfort.  Apparently it's a popular store.

Did I mention that on Friday Brian got his drivers license renewed. He had let it lapse so he had to take the written test again.  No problem, he passed it with flying colors.

Thanksgiving is Thursday but I don't feel much like celebrating under the circumstances.  I know that this will be the very first and only Thanksgiving that Brian & Reva will be apart.  And I am assuming that Rick won't ask to spend Thanksgiving with me either.  All I can say is, it's their loss.  I'll be glad when the holidays are over.  There's just too much stress involved with the holidays and especially when you are separated from the people that you love.   

August 5th Happy Birthday Reva

 Happy Birthday Reva!!!

Reva celebrated her birthday at home with her family

and then we took her to Cheddar's

for an additional 

Birthday Celebration.

The Birthday Girl is holding her birthday hat made by Sharon & Megan.

There are black clouds hovering over my head this morning and I didn't sleep well last night.  I was, and still am,  tormented by worry about my daughter-in-law who was admitted to the hospital yesterday.  I pray that she will be alright in a few days and that the skilled doctors find the cause of her condition.