Heirlooms

"Up in the attic, down on my knees. Lifetimes of boxes timeless to me. Letters and photographs yellowed with years, some bringing laughter some bringing tears. Time never changes the memories, the faces of loved ones who bring to me. All that I come from and all that I live for, and all that I'm going to be. My precious family is more than an heirloom to me...." That song is by Amy Grant and reminds me of keeping memories of loved ones close to my heart.

Well, we went through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and more different kind of events without Daddy. Even though Daddy is not physically here with us, he is always with us in our hearts. There are so many things that remind me of Daddy. He absolutely loved Christmas. He loved life in general! This morning it snowed in South Arkansas a little bit. And of course, I thought of Daddy. He would always wake me up in the morning after it snowed the night before. I can hear him now saying, "Meredith, wake up! It snowed last night!! Isn't it pretty?" Memories are sooo important to hang on to.

Dance Me, Daddy

Thinking of Daddy this week! Yesterday was Father's Day and I was thinking of that song!

The Best Car Salesman

I just decided that most of these posts will be happy ones, I can assure you of that! Wow, I can seriously tell yall just SOO MANY wonderful memories I have of my Daddy. He was a car salesman for most of his life! I think he started helping my Papaw (his dad) when he was 16 at the car dealership. Then my uncle (and his twin) Jack and Daddy took over Jordan Pontiac years later. They knew the business well. Everything almost came natural to them though because they started working early! When I was in Kindergarten, they had to close down Jordan Pontiac. But Daddy moved on and worked at another dealership, then the latest dealership was Jim Golden Ford, where he stayed. He met so many people in the car business. He made a difference in many lives. People sometimes tell me, "Oh your Daddy sold me my car" or "I bought all my cars from Jerry." And they all grinned! I always LOVED going to his office to visit him or calling him on the phone at his office. I can hear him now saying "This is Jerry." I wish I could help all of you readers visualize everything I see in my mind when I am typing this. I admit, I am having a hard time typing. Grief is hard. Maybe that is why I am having a hard time. I still pray that when others may read this, it helps them in some way or another. I will hopefully put pictures on here soon. My heart is full of love for my family. The wonderful thing is, I see part of Daddy in all of us. I see a part of Daddy in my Mama, in Kelly, in Eric, in Russell, in Logan, Lauren, and I see a part of Daddy in myself. Not a day goes by that I don't notice a little thing I do here or there that reminds me of him. And I think,"Daddy would do that!"

Part 2 of Sept. 23rd

Yes, I did want so bad to be in South AR with Daddy, Mama and Kelly. God is 1st, Family is 2nd in my life and exactly in that order. Later that afternoon I got a call from my sweet cousin, Jennifer. I just bawled over the phone. I didn't know how to comprehend this. I didn't know yet that it was cancer, but I had this horrible overwhelming feeling. I talked with my sweet, sweet Daddy soon after. I remember he said, "Meredith, you and I have always been real close, and I love you....." I don't remember crying with him on the phone. I do remember it was one of the most precious moments. I told him he was going to be okay. We had to think like that. We had no idea what was going to happen. I just prayed for the Lord to help us. I prayed and prayed. Paige was still with me at the apartment and we had a Mary Kay meeting that night...not only a meeting but a fashion show for all Star consultants (I was one of them). I didn't wanna miss out but I also wanted to stay home. Paige encouraged me to go so I did. I had fun "modeling" our new clothes and makeup look, but inside, I was screaming. I was really----in a state of shock. I didn't know what to do. I really didn't. Like I said before, I wanted Russell and I to go to Camden. At that point, we were in the middle of trying to close on our house. We thought if it was not scheduled to close on that weekend we could go to Camden.


I will update as soon as I can with more.....

Why this blog?

I have to say, I debated about starting this new blog. I thought about it so much because it can be so hard to me to type sometimes and hard for others to read sometimes. However, I thought it could help someone who reads this in the long run have at least a little bit more awareness than we had in the beginning.

So, let me start at the very beginning.
It was September 23, 2008; I was having an okay day. I knew my parents were in Little Rock that day and that Daddy was having many tests done. Mama called me that morning and said most of his tests were done and everything looked "normal" so far. I felt better hearing that. Later that day, I went to get my hair colored and to Wal-Mart. When I got in my car, Mama called me. "It's not good." Mama said. "Your Daddy has a brain tumor." She was crying and of course, upset. I just cried so much and just said really loud, "I didn't want it to be that!!" I mean, honestly, the diagnosis of a brain tumor NEVER crossed my mind. I thought it was something that was at least fairly treatable. I drove home and I immediately called Russell and told him. I just cried uncontrollably. I don't know how I made it home, but I did. I called my friend, Paige and she came over to spend time with me. She was so sweet to bring me a frappucino from Starbucks. I just remember that I was sooo upset. I didn't know what was in store for our family. All I wanted to do RIGHT THEN was be with Daddy, Mama and Kelly. All I wanted to do was hug Daddy.

Well, I will finish that days story later. I don't know how often I will update this, but I will update periodically.