So Long, Good and Mostly Faithful Furnace

 It has to happen, our old furnace was pitiful.  It would go and go, then quit. Sometimes you could turn it off and then back on and it would work.

Have you seen the movie Armaggedon?  It is a fav of mine because Bruce Willis is a fave of mine and several other actors.  When the Russian guy beats all over the space ship panel to get it going and in his exasperation says, "This is how we do it in Russia!"  So, when just flipping the switch wouldn't work, Handy Man would go down and bang on it and quote the Russian. It would always come back on.

First my brother Tim then our friend Darin replaced most parts on it through the years and it kept on going.  

Today we said, "Farewell."

My brother asked if this wasn't a Kodak moment, after all these years. He said, "Kind of like losing a pet."

He had been trying to get me to replace it for years.  Before it started acting up, I began to lose my original appliances one by one, refrigerator, stove, microwave, toaster, each one more awful than the last and not worth the cost to bring them home.  I surely didn't want to part with the big bucks and just have yet another piece of junk, so I was resistant.  

Hard to see the picture but lots of cracks.

I got one last use out of old guy- an afternoon of deconstruction for the gramerlings. 

So we are toasty warm thanks to Tim and Brent and a weekend full of work. 

This was the coldest winter we've had in a way long time.  Color me surprised when life started peeping out of these pansies I bought last March at the start of the pandemic and just plunked in this ol' log.  Blooming like  crazy.  Maybe it was an occupant in the little fairy house that offered some protection. 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it is back to work I go.  I think this is  one of the harder parts of grief.  The part where you are changed by loss, but everything else is exactly the same.  Today, putting away food after dinner, I wondered at all the times I've packed up something tasty to send to Jimi. I also wondered how long it will be before that isn't my first thought when grabbing a ziploc or cottage cheese container. He always saved them for me and returned any jars I used.  It feels like the expectation is to just go on, as if it never happened.  Sometimes it feels to me like I disappoint people by still being sad.  Oh well, a disappointment I will be because sad I am. 

Home Again

 Aunt Tish and I headed out Tuesday for my Mom's ol' stomping ground in Kentucky. My cousin, who was my country friend growing up and into adulthood, lost her precious boy the day after Jimi.  Oh my.  

We were also able to visit other cousins on this trip, so that was nice. 

Early Wednesday found us up at 'em, with not much to do, so we went to the four cemeteries  where so many of our people are, to hmm, what were we there to do?  Swap memories, question things we've forgotten or never knew.  

You hear so much about genetics impacting how you will age and you think of the technology we have now, still none of my mom's brother's children  outlived their daddy and many of his grandchildren didn't live as long as their parents.  Now, three of my siblings didn't come to close to  Mom and Daddy's years. 

Ugh.

So, here I am, wondering what in the wide world to do with myself.

So, go back and revisit Monday a bit.

So folks, you know that kid you've seen in every other picture I've shown around the last sixteen years. Well, he's a man.

Rae, Tim an Tiff families

 Susie's people

More gramerlings

Friends 

Kaye's niece and family and her grand daughter 

Phil's siblings

Jimi's school friends

Bro. Tim's crew

Glenda's people

Friends 

School Friends

Stephen and Adam                                        Poor Stephen manned the drink table throughout.

Thanks to Ceece and Missy Bugg for manning the camera. I didn't have time to speak to everyone, much less take pictures.

  

The Morning After

 As they say, "This Ain't My First Rodeo."  Things have just been a whirlwind for  the last couple of weeks. The whirlwind has died down to a whisper- "He is really gone." 

All the busyness has kept me distracted.  And always, as I discovered with Daddy 21 years ago, there is a lot of joy in spending time with people you haven't seen in a long time, and meeting new people who had an appreciation for the life of someone you loved.

My sister's and I were apprenticed at the school of Juanita Party Central and each of us can sling hash, man a pair of scissors and tape, and give orders like a boss, and we did.  

Then the husbands and their kids and my kids and many others all pitched in to help pull off a big picnic. 

I wasn't sure the no rain prediction was going to hold as big dark clouds continued to roll around in the sky, but sure enough, for March, it was a perfect evening.  Thank the Good Lord, again!

I believe he would have been tickled pink by his kith and kin, all sporting bandanas with his name on them, and saying kind, sweet and funny words about him.

My only heartbreak is that two of the biggest pieces of his heart were left out due to Covid. So, we'll have another smaller family affair after they have recovered. 

Did you join in the grieving and the celebrating in any way?  If I didn't get to say so, "Thank you."  

I enjoyed visitors who stopped in during the day.

As I've chronicled here, Gardener E. has an amazing woodland garden and is my source for all things shade.  She came and  brought plants to get his creekside garden going. 

This took lots of arranging and rearranging to get it to work.  Very scary on the back, with a roll of masking tape pieces, as the wind would make quick work of all of our efforts throughout the day. 

Lots of good food.  

Jimi's friend Robin led the way sharing sweet memories of her 50 year friendship with Jimi.

My sweet Antebellie blew us all completely away with a favorite medley of Jimi's.  I hope I am able to later add a link to it.  You know for crying purposes and such.

I did the eulogy and our friend, "Rev Dave."  Wrapped it up with a few more memories and a prayer. 

The guitar pickers played a tune and we headed to the creek.

My girls Rae and Gwen, had a great idea to toss something in the creek, so, thanks again to Gardener E., I have a plethora of hellebores, also known as lenten roses.  We tossed in a bloom with a memory, to float lazily along that little creek.  And sent some lanterns heavenward as well.  

I have lots more pictures to post as I will will look at all of Jimi's people's faces again and again in the coming days.  Now, I need to pack up and head south to hold to another grieving heart. 

I end with this picture of Mr. Smiley, in his ovie alls and bandana, who was not at all smiley, sitting right here along the creek where he and Uncle Jimi often sat, with this little broken heart.  

All Hands on Deck

 Busy, busy getting prepared for tomorrow.

Lots of winter debris gathering-

Flower Planting

Marshmallow stick carving

Fetching

Raking and on and on.

So thankful to the Good Lord for this weather.  For obvious reasons- no one wants to have memorial service in the rain and boy, we've had a cold winter. The sun feels so good.

The brisket is marinating. The bread starter is about to become cinnamon roll dough, and we're all ready for a rest

Let's Go for a Swim!

 In a salty sea.

I went to work all week, a good distraction, but you know, it doesn't actually work, because when the papers are graded, the report cards all made, the plans hobbled together for when I return, the big hole is still there, waiting for you to fall in.

While I very literally have dozens of things that really do need doing, I'm just not able this morning to face them.  

Instead, I just scroll back through the years.

Jimi often commented that our relationship was my doing.  While the want to was there, he just didn't manage to get things done. If I had not pursued him, he said he sure would've missed out on a lot of life.

So, why did I?  Well, when I did turn his focus to something else. He did it with all his might.

My first Knight in Shining Armor valued perfection,

And each of my children and, in turn,  their children,

Were thought to be perfect.

How can any Mom or Gramerly not appreciate that?

That came about once with a new experience for me- a grandboy.   I aspired to grow up and be a mom.  That happened when I was young and as soon as I knew my last ones arrived, I turned my thoughts to being grandma.   The Major and Ceece were young, and so was I when that little Bean arrived on the scene. Even though I had been looking forward to this for years, I was not prepared for the love I felt for that tiny boy.  Was it magnified by the fact that we nearly lost him before we hardly got to know him at 3 days old.  I don't know. I just know he was absolutely all that as far as I was concerned. 

Ceece was blessed to be able to take him to work for a time and Oma, Opa, Leesh, Rae, the Major and I took turns keeping  him the rest of the time.  Then came a time when we needed some extra childcare.  Jimi wasn't working, as his medical problems were starting.  I asked if he thought he could manage keeping the baby a couple of days a week.  He took that on for my sake. But as he said, he ended up loving that slice of life. 

Not only did he do that, but he had a little camera that went along with them. He would take Bean's picture and make prints for me.

Photographically speaking, they are not great pictures. Maybe not to anyone but me. This was before cell phone pictures, and Jimi only had a pocket camera.   In addition, I could not get my scanner to work today, so I went outside and took pictures of the pictures.  

I think these pictures speak to his character.

He would dress him up and stroll him all over downtown.  Soon Bean was sporting a bandana just like Uncle Jimi.  Jimi had a bad back and would grunt a little when he would had to step up on something. So did Bean.

I wish I had a picture of the bucket Jimi made him.  You know those five gallon buckets. They make tool belt sort of things to go on them and Bean's had every safe gadget known to man in those pockets. 

Not only did he take the pictures, but would remember Bean, who didn't talk for along time, 

actions about all their adventures.

His love and care of that gramerling was a gift beyond price to me.