To BRIAN and REVA

The Grandchild you always wished for

On June 6, 2023 Brandon & Krystal blessed You & Reva with the sweetest little grandson which they named Ody Hatcher.  I know that you are proudly looking down from heaven at your very first grandchild with love and admiration.  

Brian, I know that we talked about it many times and that you wished for a grandchild of your very own.  I can just see your reaction and your excitement, and imagine how proud you would have been.  I can imagine you taking Ody out of Krystal's arms and proudly walking out of the hospital room to show Odie off to all that you would encounter.  As your sister Sharon said, you would probably just take Odie and walk straight out of the hospital with him and try to take him home with you, while Reva would chase after you and say, "Brian, bring him back here!"  

Both you and Reva would have had Odie spoiled rotten and Brandon would have to try to pry Ody out of your arms to take him home with him & Krystal.  They'd never have to worry about a babysitter because you and Reva would always be available.  I wish you could have been here, both you and Reva, but I know that you two will try to send messages to Brandon now and then, and when you do Brandon will smile.  You raised a good boy who has turned into a wonderful responsible young man.  Brandon will be a good loving kind father.  Brandon & Krystal will be wonderful parents.      

Missing Reva Hatcher

 I love playing a game called, Words with Friends  

and I will play with anyone now, but for several years I played this daily game with my daughter-in-law, Reva Hatcher.  

Reva is gone now and everyday as I play with strangers online, I can't help but think of Reva and how much I miss her.  

Reva was a daily presence in my life and as long as she played Words with me I knew that she was fine.  Occasionally Reva would be admitted to the hospital for various reasons and on those days when she didn't respond to a game I knew that something was wrong, and I would call or text her and Gloria, her friend, would always respond and tell me that Reva was sick or in the hospital.

After Brian died Reva and I texted quite a bit, but our texting waned over time.  I asked Reva about this and she told me that I made her more depressed because I reminded her too much about Brian and how much she missed him.  I completely understood what she meant and what she was feeling because I went through the same feelings each time that I was around my own family.  My family was just too much of a reminder of what I had lost, so I avoided them, because it hurt so bad.  I eventually got over this feeling, but in the meantime several years had gone by to my surprise.  Now that I want my family around, they have moved on and are busy living their own lives.  I missed a lot of family time and getting to know my great-grandchildren.  It's funny, or maybe I should say, sad, how a death of a loved one can change so much of your life.

Getting back to Reva.......So instead of talking or texting too much after Brian died we kept in touch through playing Words with Friends together.  Reva and I had played Words for several years before Brian's death.  We started playing the game from the games first beginnings on Facebook, so of course I think of her everyday as I click on the Words icon app on my cell phone.  I don't just miss playing Words with her, I miss her in every way just as I miss my son and Jimmy.  

Memories on old electronics

Yesterday  I spent the day pulling out of hiding all of my old electronics, because I was too sore from picking up all the winter branches that had fallen in the backyard to do anything else.  

I have three old laptops, one old iPad, and one old desk computer.  I charged everything up except of course for the desk computer that is plugged in at all time.  They all still worked, but are all very slow and out of date.  I was able to connect all of them to the internet, but I don't know why I did that.  I have my newer Macbook Pro which I can look things up with much faster speeds, but it's getting old and out of date too, but it's the best I have for now.  

On the old electronics I found some old pictures on them and that's actually what I was looking for.  I was looking for those pictures that were too embarrassing to be posted, and now they are gems and wonderful to see.  

I sent some of them to Brandon and I hope that I didn't make him too sad, because they were of his mother, Reva, who just passed away on Christmas Day, and also of his dad, Brian.  The pictures were of a trip to a waterpark and we were all in our swimsuits.  Brian looked fine, but Reva & I just didn't want to share pictures of ourselves in bathing suits online.

  

I was only able to look thru one album of pictures and I can't wait to see more on these old machines.  I'm sure all of the pictures are saved on flash drives or on external hard drives somewhere, but it's more fun looking at them on these old devices.

While searching the area where my old electronics were stored I found a new pack of ten LIFESAVERS candy rolls.  I had bought several packs for Rick's birthday about 6 or 7 years ago.  We opened one roll last night and they were regrettably gummy, chewy and sticky.....not good at all.  

 

Remembering Reva: Part II

 

Remembering Reva: Part I

 Reva was a big part of my family.  She was sweet, fun loving, a good mother and wife, and a great cook.  Reva was much more than that, and we all loved her.

Here are some pictures of Reva, who never liked to be photographed and often times hid from the camera.

This picture is of James Brian Hatcher, Sandie Whittemore and Reva Courtney Hatcher.  They all three passed away within 13 months.  Brian passed away in Nov. 2020, Sandie Dec. 2020 and Reva on Christmas Day 2021.