Last Obituary Reading of March 2012

There were a LOT of dead people this week.  4 full pages.  That is a lot.  All ages, all different causes of death.  Sometimes when I see so many my mind runs to the "oh my Lord, what if there is an epidemic going on!" kind of thinking.

Some of the interesting phrases, wording and information given this week were these:

"Ramon went peacefully to be with the Lord on March 22 in the presence of his loving family and devoted Chihuahuas, Pinky and Glory."

**Every time I read about people going peacefully surrounded by herds of people and dogs, I have to question how peaceful it really was.  


There was one obituary in particular that was a column and a half in length that reminded me of ME!  Holy Moly!  She and I shared many interests in common.  We lived in some of the same places, worked for the same types of charities, and enjoyed similar hobbies.  She was another one who went peacefully surrounded by the whole family.

You know how sometimes you think you are being all cool and objective and neutral on something but when you go back and read it, it becomes painfully clear that you are seriously pissed off or hurting or just full of emotion that you didn't realize was there?

Read this:

"Glen Philip, aged 54, was taken from us to soon. He passed away in San Antonio, on Wednesday, March 21, after a brief illness. He had been a candidate for a liver transplant, and was scheduled to have the life saving surgery on March 22, and came so close to that goal."

***Oh my Lord.  Can you just feel the anguish coming off the page?  It breaks my heart.




Want to take a guess as to the occupation of this next person?

"Entered life's classroom in KY, 1/20/1910, graduated in TX 3/16/2012."

***You see that this makes her 102 years and almost 2 months of age?  Miss Clara Lynn was a teacher from the 1930s through to the 1970s.  Her family goes on to say:  "Mom, you enjoyed teaching, cooking, baking, mailing cookies, candies and cakes to all of us; playing cards and keeping current. You kept your keen mind intact and enjoyed people until you Graduated. We're all o.k. Thanks for the Lessons. Rest in Peace."

The last one I want to share with you is a great example of people truly trying to see the bright side.  They don't list a cause of death, but from the lovely words it gives the impression that she suffered in life.

"Mary Lillian, "Momma", was received into Heaven at 9:05 a.m. on March 21 where she immediately used strong new lungs to sing with the angels, flawless new teeth to smile at her Lord who she could see clearly with perfect new eyes, all while dancing on strong new bones with her friends and family that preceded her to Heaven."

**Awww, don't you love that they have this vision of their Momma?  Bless her heart.  By the by, she was 97 years old, and had a full life with lots of family.  You can't ask for much more than that, can you?

Playing Along with my S-i-l

1. What song always makes you happy when you hear it? Sadly, it is Wake Me Up Before you Go, Go! 
2. What, if anything, would you change about your blog? More posts with better pictures.  I have got to learn how to take better photos.
3. If you could only keep one thing in your wardrobe, what would it be? My Tevas. Best, most versatile sandals ever!
4. Warm sunny beaches or snow covered mountains? I could go either way. 60% beach if it's for a vacation, 60% for the mountains if it's for a new home. 
5. What's your favorite book? Tough one!  So many favorites to choose from.  Can I pick one from each genre?  One from each author?  I bet hourly I could come up with a new favorite.  Right now I would have to say "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe".
6. What 3 words best describe your personality? Nurturing, loving, passionate. 
7. What's the first thing you'd splurge on if you won the lottery? Retirement property!
8. Do you have an embarrassing song that you rock out to on your I-pod? So I guess the most embarrassing thing about this question is that I don't have an i-Pod. I may be the last person in the free world who is without mp3 music at my fingertips.
9. Do you have a hidden talent? I think I am a great kisser.  Everyone knows I am the best hugger, but very few know about my kissing.
10. If you could take a one month trip anywhere and money was not a consideration, where would you go? Well, right off the bat I would say I want to do the trip I planned a few years ago and for one reason or another it never came to fruition, and head to Tahiti.  But lately, I have been doing so much ancestry research that I feel a month trip to Scotland and Ireland would better serve my needs.
11. What's your favorite sport and why? NBA Spurs Basketball!!!  or World Cup Soccer watching Team Argentina.

Anyone else want to do this?  Comment here with a link to your responses!

Dark Shadows!

Have you seen the trailer to the new Dark Shadows movie?

Oh Lawzy, it looks like fun!

I will be first in line (cyberly) to get tickets!  Yes, I am that excited about this.

p.s. Fabulous soundtrack, don't you think?

Reading of the O'bits! St. Paddy's style

Okay, it has been a stressful week.  And I mean stressful.  I have been so run down and run ragged.  Day after day of getting up and being out of the house early and not getting home till evening time, Mr. Big Ed has been out of town and all the care of 5 gazillion damn pets dropped in my lap.  And on top of that?

When Mr. Big Ed is gone I can't sleep.  I always have one eye open and at least one ear open for any little sound.  So that means I am dragging my ass out of bed early after bad or little sleep.  And what does that bring?  Me resorting to loads of caffeine to function.

And what does all that caffeine do?

It keeps me up again!!!  Aarrgh!  The cycle!

And!!!  2 people I know are in the obits this week.  I attended one of the funerals Saturday and the other one will be held on Tuesday.  It is sad around here, is what it is.

I just have a few things to tell y'all about the obituaries this week.  First off, there were some doozies of names!  Lots and lots of really old people above 90, and while that's sad, it does mean we get some great names to look at and remember.  Awww, I love the old-school names that no one uses any more.

Here's a smattering of great names for you:

Cornelius a.k.a. Buddy,
Nell,
Eunice,
Ernest,
Edith,
Imogene,
Loftus,
Ethel,
Minnie,
Floy Marie,
Rogene Lacy,
Royal and II, III, and even Royal IV!,
Ruby Lee,
Pearl,
Ola Jean,
Lily Belle,
Velma,
Edwin,
Alma,
Hilmer,
Edgar,
Milton,
and last but certainly not least:
Hedwig

And now we come to the part where we look at all the euphemisms for "dead".  As usual there are a lot of the passed away and gone to be with the Lord variety.

There was one retired Navy  guy in his 70s who "set sail on his final deployment."

2 people "died peacefully".

One lady "happily went home to eternal rest with the Lord and her dear Virgin Mary at the age of 93".

Helen Iona went to the home that Jesus prepared for her on Thursday.

"Entered eternal life".

Ethel was freed of pain and called by the Lord.

But you know I saved the best one for last, don't you?

I loved this one!

"Bobby Joe Elliott, transferred his membership from the Church Militant on earth to the Church Triumphant in Heaven on March 14."

I'd like a membership transfer, please.  Love it.

Book Review

I am reviewing a book I only started last night!!!


I am barely into this and am imagining the possiblilities for my own self.

Believe it or don't, this book has it's own trailer on youtube.  Am I the last person on earth to know that this happens?

Now that you have watched it and have an inkling of what this book is about, let me move on with my own thoughts about what I am reading.

Jen Hatmaker makes the choice to do this project and document what she finds in order to remove clutter from her mind and her life in order to make room for God and his message.  I think this is awesome. She is on the path to discovering that things, possessions, filling your life and your mind with all this crap only slows you down and impedes you finding your purpose.  Finding why you were born.  You and your own set of talents and gifts were born to do something, to be the best you there is.  To possibly teach or be a lesson for someone else.

But living our lives the way we do with so much STUFF doesn't help us achieve our purpose.  All it does is cloud things over and distract us.

I love how she lays out how each month will work and has her group of women she calls her Council to help her find what the boundaries of each should be.  They also hold her accountable and go on the journey with her each in their own way.

I love how she allows herself the freedom to complain and bend the rules or break them when necessary. And then spend some time reflecting over each decision and find the lesson.

The first month is food.  She did not force her kids to do the first couple of months but then the rest were all done as a whole family.  For the food she worked out a nutritious gang of 7 foods and stuck to it and tried to find recipes to incorporate as many as possible.  The only seasonings, condiments allowed were salt and pepper.  And so Jen opted to make those 7 foods as healthy as possible and bought local, organic and high quality foods.  Her findings over this month were really inspiring.

The second month was clothes.  Holy moly!  I am sure a lot of people are like me and have a huge closet full of things and yet only wear a tiny fraction of what is there.  Jen went through all the closets in her home and guesstimated the amount of items and multiplied that by $20 for each and got a staggering figure of how much money is just hanging there in the closet, unloved, and unneeded.  That's a sobering idea, isn't it?

And let me tell you, I have waaaaay more hanging in my closet than she did!

Right now I am most of the way through her Month 3 of no media, meaning no t.v., no facebook, no texting, no Wii, no screentime except for work and school.  So the family are forced to deal with each other face to face.  They go find things to do, like bike riding, playing ball outside, really good intereactions with each other rather than mindlessly staring at a screen.

I am wondering as I think about the first 3 chapters how this is going to manifest itself in my life.  Am I willing to be this drastic in any area of my life, much less 7 different ones?

I don't know.  I will continue mulling it over and let you know as things unfold.

News of a titanic discovery

Go read this article

It's about all new sonar mapping of the Titanic wreckage and it is very cool.

They will be having a 2 hour special on the History Channel on April 15 the 100 year anniversary of the sinking.

Set your dvrs!  This will be some t.v. worth watching!

Denied Holy Communion by Snape?

Did you read the story last week about the woman who was denied Holy Communion at her mother's funeral?  Seems that there is a lot of controversy regarding this.

For me it's mostly about the priest and his having poor judgment, timing and manners.  The way I understand things is this:

1. The victim here is Barbara Johnson, a lesbian in a committed relationship.

2. Barbara's mother died and during the service, while she was at the altar in front of her mother's coffin, the priest looks at her and covers the Host and says, "you are living with a woman and in the eyes of the church that is a sin."

3. Then the priest, Rev. Marcel Guarnizo, left the service and there was no one to accompany the body and family to the graveside portion of the funeral.

This is bad.

I understand when you are going to communion you are supposed to be in a state of grace, but that is supposed to be between you and God.  Not for a priest to call you out publicly with the whole congregation as witnesses.

And have you seen this guy?

  I am sorry, but I find it really hard to be serious when I see the priest and and can only think . . . .

The whole thing is beyond awful.  That poor woman losing her mother, being patronized and called out like that by the very place she would go for solace.  Where will she go now?

And if I were the dearly departed?  Imagine your spirit looking down and seeing your child treated so shabbily.  It breaks my heart.