Our New Foster Dog

Last Wednesday our new foster dog arrived from North Carolina! Her family has trusted us with her care for the next three years while they are stationed in Japan. Izzy is adjusting well and it is clear that she comes from a good home. The airline took good care of the dogs they delivered that day, and we were all relieved when Izzy arrived safe and sound. She is very well behaved in the house, and lets us know when she needs to go outside. For now we have to take her out on a leash each time, because we don't have a fenced yard. We are considering getting a wireless containment system so that we can let her out without her chasing a squirrel and getting lost. I'm glad we are getting along so well!

My Work Here Is Done!

So...the stocking I was making for my granddaughter is finally complete! It is beautiful from a distance, so maybe no one will look at it too closely. It is full of love, sequins, a future lifetime of Christmas fun, and a few flaws. In an earlier post I mentioned how I had the urge to go back and fix every little part of the stocking that was imperfect, but I just had to keep reminding myself that was unrealistic. If I had gone back and fixed every mistake, it would take so long that Ava would never get to use it and that would defeat the purpose!
The stocking arrived in North Carolina yesterday, just in time to be packed with the rest of Ava's family's belongings to go half way around the world to Japan! We'll talk about that one in another post.
Happy Tuesday!

Rembering Lucy

Lucy Tima Hill Endebrock

Last Sunday my precious Aunt Lucy passed away. She was 89 years old and had recently been put on hospice, so it came as no great shock. It did, however, come with great sadness for me. Lucy had been in a nursing home for the last several years and didn't always know me when I went to see her, but that didn't dull my love for her. As the arrangements were made for Lucy's funeral, I began to realize that the minister who had been asked to speak at the funeral had never met Lucy. My mind went back to my own father's funeral, and the beautiful speech that my husband had made about my dad. I decided that if no one had already been chosen, then I would like to volunteer to tell the group about Lucy at her funeral. Since I had not spoken to Lucy's last surviving daughter in a long time, I was afraid she might not remember me and so I was hesitant to call her on the phone. I decided to go ahead and prepare my remarks and get to the funeral chapel early. When Lucy's daughter arrived for the funeral, I was able to ask her in person and she agreed to letting me speak during the service. The funeral director said that my turn would come right after "The Old Rugged Cross". Here is what I said:
Hello, I am Fay Morris and I am Lucy's niece. Today I would like to say that I love Lucy and give you a few reasons why: Lucy was born in 1921, the fifth daughter of R. Q. and Fannie Hill. After Lucy, R. Q. and Fannie had three sons and then Geneva, who is my mother.
Lucy and my mom were very close sisters and even shared a bed while growing up. My mom had to stay in the hospital when she was a little girl, and when her parents came to visit they brought Lucy with them. If you knew Lucy, then you know what happened next. Lucy was very social and so before long, she struck up a conversation with the little girl in the next bed. This made my mom very unhappy, because she wanted to keep Lucy to herself.
A few years later, Lucy told my mom that she was planning to marry Arthur Endebrock. That was OK with mom, right up until she found out that meant Lucy would be moving in with Arthur! Once again, mom didn't want to have to share Lucy.
Lucy's brother, Bud, served in the Army during the 1940's. He told me that during the time he was stationed in Japan, Lucy was so good to write him long letters full of family news. Bud said he always looked forward to getting a letter from Lucy to keep him updated about his nieces and nephews. Lucy was very thoughtful.
Lucy and Arthur had two daughters, Nancy and Judy, and a son, Roger. Lucy was a very active and involved mother. She loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren very much.
By the time I came along, Lucy's children were all grown up, so in my memories of spending time together it was always just Lucy and Arthur. Their house was one of my favorite places to go, even though there were no children for me to play with, or a computer, iPod, or video games! As soon as our station wagon came to a stop in their driveway on Forest Avenue, I tried to be the first one up the sidewalk and through the white gate into the porch that separated Lucy's sewing room to the left, from the rest of their house to the right. Their house had a front door, but I don't remember anyone ever using it. We always went into the house through the door that went straight into the kitchen, where Lucy kept a radio playing softly next to the sink.
Lucy was a gifted seamstress and sewed for the public for many years. Her sewing room was a converted garage and it was there that she turned out one masterpiece after another, always making it look easy.
Lucy and Arthur kept a large garden in their back yard where they grew lots of good things to eat. Fresh tomatoes were one of Lucy's favorite things.
Lucy and Arthur played bridge every Tuesday night with my parents and my dad's brother, Tommy and his wife, Margie for a number of years. Each week the game location rotated between their three houses. When it was Lucy and Arthur's turn to host the group I was always able to find plenty to entertain myself while the adults played bridge.
Lucy and Arthur went on vacations with us to Colorado and enjoyed time together on the Llano River. Once we went deep sea fishing and even while fighting sea-sickness, Lucy caught a shark!
Lucy had a wide circle of friends and also enjoyed bowling in a league for a long time. She always made time for fun, whether it was fishing, playing a game, going for a walk, or having a heart to heart talk.
Lucy's phone number was the first one I ever memorized, and I bet you remember it, too: GL1-6607.
A few years ago when Lucy was in the hospital I went to see her. I sat by her bed and we talked about all sorts of things when her doctor came in to check on her. By then, Lucy had lost most of her eyesight, so after the doctor left the room I commented on how young he looked. Never missing a beat, Lucy asked me if he was good looking. I told her yes, he was nice looking. She immediately said, "Oh, rats! And here I am, looking like an old woman."
These are just a few of the reasons why I love Lucy.

That's what I said at Lucy's funeral, but there is so much more I wish I would have said. Whenever we have had a funeral before, there would be a meeting with the minister ahead of time and he would get all the details of the person's life and share them at the funeral. I expected that this would happen at Lucy's funeral, so I wish I would have also said that Lucy Tima Hill Endebrock was born on July 29, 1921 in the King Community of Coryell County and passed away August 15, 2010 at the age of 89 years and 17 days in Clifton, Texas. Lucy is survived by one daughter, five grandchildren, several great-grandchildren and lifelong friends. She is preceded in death by her husband, Arthur August Endebrock, her son, Roger, her daughter, Judy, and her grandson, Christopher. Lucy graduated from Jonesboro High School in 1938, and married Arthur Endebrock September 27, 1941. In 1946, Lucy and Arthur bought his father's farm near Aleman, Texas in 1946. They worked very hard and had their place debt free in less than seven years. Due to the drought in Central Texas in the 1950s, Arthur took a job at General Motors Corporation . Lucy and Arthur purchased a home in Handley on the east side of Fort Worth and raised their family.
Lucy lived through many hard times but she was not the type of person to let it bring down her spirits. When Lucy was seven years old, her sister Mercedeas died. Lucy also lived through The Great Depression, World War II, the loss of her grandson, husband and two children. Despite these losses, she kept a good attitude and was a lot of fun to be around.
Lucy was a Christian, and she did not reserve her faith for a certain day of the week or a certain building. She lived her faith on a daily basis, and taught by example. If Lucy loved you, you knew it! One of her gifts that was so like Christ was her ability to set aside time to spend with children and make them feel valued and loved.
I also wish I would have said how these are just a few of my memories and I am sure that everyone here today has their own memories of Lucy. I hope this has reminded you of some good times that you shared with Lucy, and like me those memories will always be a treasure in your heart.

Perspective

Today is Day 5 post sinus surgery. Mouth breathing can get very annoying. I am trying to be thankful that I'm breathing in any fashion, but sometimes it just gets to me. It dries out my mouth so much and makes me very thirsty. ugh. I'm thankful that I don't have to show up at a job somewhere with two black eyes and a big bandage on my nose. I'm thankful not to have little children at home with needs regardless of whatever else is going on in the world. I'm thankful that there was something medically that could be done about my sinus polyps. I am very thankful to have a husband who wants to take care of my needs. I have so much for which to be thankful. I just need to work on FEELING thankful. I took a picture of myself but it is way too scary to post. Have a nice day.

Care Packages

Recently I have become acquainted with "Care Packages". Since my new son-in-law has deployed to Iraq with the Marines, I have been trying to learn all I can about what should or should not be included in a care package. It's a topic that until last year I am ashamed to say had never given much thought. It must have been categorized in my brain as one of those things that other people do. When I was becoming acquainted with the family that my daughter was about to marry into, one of the conversations turned to his first deployment and the fun of sending him care packages. Fun? What? That idea had never occurred to me before. The whole process really sounded like a chore, but little did I know how very much fun I would have with it all! As the deployment date approached, I started doing internet searches for ideas. It became important to me that the he receive something from home as soon after he got to Iraq as possible. I'm not sure why this mattered so much to me, but it's possible that it was my awareness of my own tendency to procrastinate! My decision to send the first care package ASAP was probably to keep me from putting it off until he was almost ready to return home. The stories that his parents told me about some of his fellow Marines who never received anything in the mail really made an impact.

A couple of days after he left for Iraq, I went to visit my daughter at their home in North Carolina. While I was there, we shopped together for items we wanted to send in our first care package. It turned out to be so much fun! We found so many more things than we could send in the first box, so we already had inspiration for box number two!! It worked out great for us to collaborate as we learned the ropes: flat-rate boxes from the post office are FABULOUS for taking the whole weight thing out of the equation, they limit what we can send at one time and force us to save something for the next package, addressing a box going to a deployed service member is a little different than one going to somewhere here in the states, and don't forget the customs form (that's the trickiest part for me). So we sent the first box on September 11 and didn't tell him it was on it's way, so he would be surprised. Astonishingly, it arrived in one week! Go USPS!

To clear up a common rumor that I've heard, IT IS OK TO SEND RELIGIOUS MATERIAL. Some people are saying that we cannot include anything religious in the boxes because it would be offensive to the locals. That is incorrect. To quote my son-in-law, "Anything religious is great out here because it keeps people's heads on straight if you know what I mean. Religion is a very important thing to have out here. It sometimes is the only thing that gets people through deployments." I couldn't have said it better myself.

After returning home to Houston, I could hardly wait to start on a care package and see if I could do it all by myself. You know what? I did it! As I started putting care package number two together, I kept thinking about my own son in college and how much I miss him and how proud I am of him and so I made up a box for him. All of that was so fun that I then decided to send a box to my daughter, also. What started as a care package project for a Marine in Iraq ended up being care packages for all three of my charges. Now to get to work on the next round...

Time in Iraq

And Another Thing...

Today I arrived at my daughter's house in North Carolina. Her pregnancy is in full bloom now, and she looks beautiful. Cody went to Iraq last week and I hate that he has to gone during this special time in their lives. He is doing what he has to do to take care of his new family, but it's just hard sometimes.

I brought Ava's stocking with me and maybe Ashley and I will get a little work done on it while I'm here. It was nice to see Courtney today. A visit here just wouldn't bee be the same if I didn't get to see her.

There's not much to say today. I'm just seeing how the new posts show up in the blog.