Weekending.

Thank you for all your good wishes for Sam. He was happier on Friday

see that pointer finger? he has it ready all the time - pointing is his "thing"! (and apparently it's contagious - I noticed my right hand did the same thing on Saturday)

and by yesterday, pretty much back to 100%. I certainly had fun spending all that 1:1 time with him (that was a first since my last Thursday with Sam ... back in April), but whoa, I was tired Friday night!

Saturday would've been our dad's 80th birthday. My brother had the wonderful idea to visit the Tech campus in his memory. My sister was headed to Florida to spend the weekend with our mom (good thing Tech is on the way), so we met up early. Saturday morning at 7:45 on a college campus is perfect for enjoying some quiet time!

nephew Andrew, me, brother Steve, sister Karen, sister-in-law Lydia

The rest of the weekend was quiet. I opened a special bottle of Sonoma County Pinot Noir Saturday evening - in honor of my dad who loved Pinot and my mom who grew up in Sonoma County. I have many happy memories of visiting my grandparents in Santa Rosa. The images and stories coming from there now are heartbreaking. I'm glad that buying (and drinking) wine helps!

...and did my usual stuff yesterday. an early run. church. knitting. a little TV with Marc (football, baseball, golf). and very early to bed.

Looking forward to a quiet week. and nice October weather!

Throwback Thursday | 1965.

I was three. We lived in southeast Texas (note the open window!). My dad worked for Texaco and back then one of their gasoline blends was called Fire Chief. Perfect for this hat!

I remembered this photo when Charlie donned his fire chief hat for the photo with my mom last month.

But it wasn't until I looked more closely that I saw the similarity in the two dads. Both with big smiles ... having a ball being dads!

The Think Write Thursday crew is tackling a challenging topic this week - about staying positive when everything is going wrong. This blog is my best answer. I try to look for the good in the posts I write (some days, like today, that's easy - other days...not so much) ... thinking about leaving a smile on my face and the faces of all you who will read it. And looking back through the archives never fails to remind me that even if things aren't going well right this second, my life has been full of blessings. And those memories can keep me going through some very dark times.

Amazing Grace.

Our family gathered in Beaufort, South Carolina this past weekend to celebrate my father's life and legacy. With a nod to poem-in-your-pocket day (and a big thank you to Kym for the reminder!), I'm sharing a few of the photos along with the words from Amazing Grace. My hymnal notes that the first four stanzas were written by John Newton to accompany his New Years Day, 1773 sermon; the fifth was added a few years later.

view of the low country marshes...one of our favorite things about this part of South Carolina

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that
saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but
now am found, was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and
grace my fears relieved. How precious did that
grace appear the hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I
have already come. 'Tis grace has brought me
safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

looking up in the memorial garden - what a view!

The Lord has promised good to me; his
word my hope secures. He will my shield and
portion be as long as life endures.

Mother with her grandchildren and great grandson

When we've been there ten thousand years, bright
shining as the sun, we've no less days to
sing God's praise than when we'd first begun.

Throwback Thursday | 78 Years.

This photo has been sitting for months in a draft post. the planned follow-up to a post I shared last spring about family treasures from Mother's side of the family. Draft posts aren't really my thing - I like to publish the posts as I write them; I rarely even schedule a post to share a day later.

a collection of old photos from Daddy's childhood

But I guess the time is finally right to tell this story. I took that collection of photographs home with me last March promising to have them scanned so we could all have copies. Of course I still need to do that, so I brought the collection back down with me. And yesterday we sorted through more albums, boxes and envelopes and found a few dozen favorites. I scanned, edited and printed them so we can make a photo board for Saturday's visitation.

What struck me as I was sorting through the printed photos today is how well they tell the story Daddy told of his life when he wrote his obituary last summer (to be published only in his hometown paper; you can read it on-line here). Here are few of my favorites.

on the steps of his grandmother's house (the same house featured in this story)

1946

Daddy was the quarterback on his high school football team

Mother & Daddy - 1965 (this is one of the photos Betty brought with her last weekend)

October 1987 - Mother threw a surprise party to celebrate his 50th birthday

1996 - at a Texaco executive meeting - that's Daddy riding the bull!

Mother & Daddy in Newfoundland (one of their many train and boat trips)

Mother & Daddy in Cuba - they went there on a train tour (the trip was only approved because it was educational)

Daddy's 75th birthday - he couldn't have been happier with that backdrop!

I now have a renewed energy around getting all my old photos sorted and scanned. I've heard good things about Scan Cafe, but would appreciate any other recommendations or advice. Thank you!