September 25, 2011  10:19 p.m.

Congratulations, Herman Cain, on winning the Straw Poll in our own Swing State of Florida.  I believe you’re the real deal and I sincerely wish you success in your bid for the Presidency.  The Mainstream Media can’t ignore you now!

Learn more about Mr. Cain here.

September 25, 2011 7:33 p.m.

One of the things that made the events of this month even harsher was its timing.  Our family had been getting prepared for our annual vacation.  We were packing the van, setting it up, and getting all our beach stuff together, when we got word of tragedy.  So on the Saturday we were supposed to leave for vacation, we ended up leaving for a funeral.  For several days, we had all that beach related stuff gathered in front of our fireplace, wondering if we would get a chance to use it for a happy time soon.  Looking at it was a poignant reminder of what was really going on.  So it made a sad time even sadder.

Well, I am happy to say that our vacation is still on, and it begins in less than a day. 

But before that, a few more things I wanted to share about the past week or two.  Since Self-Reliant Man is his mother’s only son, we had several practical matters we had to be available for while in Pensacola, causing us to stay there for several days.  There were appointments made for the bank, the accountant, and time spent in various places going through boxes and things and taking some things back to our house.  And then, I panic a little bit when I see all the things we are taking home, although it isn’t very much.  Photo albums, saved cards and papers, a little memorabilia, books, and clothing, mostly.   So I have been working on organizing better in my own house, throwing out things, and trying to find a way to absorb the new items.  Dorothy kept every single letter, card, and piece of artwork that Chips and Sweet Girl ever sent her.  It made me feel good to see how much that was!  She should definitely have known she was thought about, even though as the children got older and acquired more demands on their time, the flow of notes and drawings had slowed quite a bit.  That is a little sad thing about growing older, I guess.

Anyway, one of the things we brought home with us was the jacket that Self-Reliant Man won when he was 12 years old.  Self-Reliant Man was the state soap box derby winner in 1979.  He got the opportunity to travel (for free!) to Ohio to participate in the nationals, and actually came in 7th place nationally.  This was a moment of glory for Self-Reliant Man as a boy, and Chips is happy to have acquired his dad’s boyhood jacket.  Fortunately, for now, it fits.

Another thing is that not only have I completed the requirements for the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, but I also have been slowly moving on a track to prepare for a 5K run.  No, I am not signed up for a 5K, but I am coming along in building up my body’s ability to run more and walk less as I cover distances between 2 and 3 miles on most mornings.  One morning, I was returning to my home and found a striking sunrise.  I returned to my house, grabbed my camera, and went back to the end of my street, trying to get a photo.  It wasn’t quite as pretty by then, but here is what I got.  This is what Breezy Point looks like on a misty September morning. 

Well, I have got to go prepare for worship.  We have a busy day today.  Sunday School, Nursery Duty, Worship, and Orchestra Rehearsal.  Then the final touches on our packing for vacation tomorrow.  Yippee!!  We getting away from Florida and getting a chance to cool off some.  Ocean Lakes here we come!

September 25, 2011  7:12 a.m.

For many days I have not felt like writing.  I have checked in on others’ blogs, but haven’t added to my own.  I have been keeping myself very busy and have not felt like visiting my emotions.  Writing here would have made me visit my emotions.  I have given some thought to what I would write when I came back here, but as you can see, it has been several days until I have.  Anyway, for today, I am back in the saddle.

Two weeks ago today we had arrived in Pens*cola for the funeral of my mother-in-law, who passed away at the age of 68.  She didn’t have an easy life.  She spent most of it battling bipolar disorder.  I learned this month that she was an incredibly popular schoolgirl, and intelligent bordering on genius, and then the chemical imbalance hit right around the same time that hormones do – seventh grade.  Back in 1956, the treatments were not nearly as effective as they would have been today, and they fair well broke her in trying to treat her symptoms.  So much so that she was much more feeble than a typical woman in her 60s.  They had basically added about 25 years to her age, in some ways.  So she was dealing with various physical symptoms of older age, while at the same time trying to better her life by getting things like dental implants (her medications even messed up her teeth), and more recently cataract surgery that pleased her a good deal (she had gotten one eye done and was about to have the other one in two more weeks).  She, for various reasons, had cheated death before on at least a couple of occasions, but was not to do so this time.  One of the problems that plagued her in recent years was frequent falls.  We were amazed at how well she recovered from so many falls.  If anything was still strong, it was her bones!

Anyway, as I reflect on Dorothy, I recognize that she may have been “mentally ill”, she may have had a psychotic disease, but in my eyes, she was the least neurotic person I knew.  She never played the “victim”, and she certainly had many reasons to be one.  She never placed unreasonable demands on people, even though her mind tended to only let her view mostly her side of things.  She had an unwavering faith and hope in Jesus Christ.  The last seven years our relationship has been based mainly on the phone and on visits to her in her assisted living facility.  We had good visits, and some not so good ones, but mostly good ones.  It was always better for us to surprise her.  If we announced our visit too much in advance, she would go through a rollercoaster of anticipation that would make her nearly too ill to see us.  Even so, she would pull herself up by her own bootstraps.  I remember one such visit years ago in which she couldn’t even get out of bed when we had arrived.   So Chips just stood in the doorway of her bedroom and played the violin.  He played all the music he knew at the time.  Then we sat out in her living room and waited.  Eventually she did make it out of the room to sit with us a few minutes, and by the second day was able to visit with us in her living room.

Dorothy reminded me of the subject of Isaiah 42:3.  She was the kind of person who would not break a bruised reed, nor would she extinguish a dimly burning wick.  She was that type of gentle soul.  But she finally raised a stir on Tuesday morning, September 13, in the city of Pensacola, as her funeral procession drove across the city.  Pensacola is still one of those old-fashioned cities where the oncoming traffic comes to a stop when a funeral procession is passing.  And where several police officers on motorcycle keep just ahead to stop every intersection in town so the funeral can pass through.  She was nearly a lifelong resident of the city, and I guess in a way this was Pensacola’s way of honoring her life.

Another thing I want to mention about the funeral.  The afternoon before, Dorothy’s sister asked if our children had brought their violins.  She asked if they could play something simple.  It turned out that due to the short notice, Sweet Girl thought it best to skip this opportunity, but Chips rose to the task.  So at the small, graveside service, Chips got up and played an incredibly emotional Fairest Lord Jesus on his violin.  It was beautiful and it made his mom and dad proud.

More in another post.

September 8, 2011 8:03 a.m.

In memory of our beloved mom and “Mimi”, Mrs. Dorothy J. Lyford, mercifully ushered into eternity with Christ on September 7, 2011.

Jesus said ... "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."

September 6, 2011 5:01 a.m.

One day. One minute, can make such a huge difference.

The reason I haven’t blogged much is not because nothing has been going on.  On the contrary, much has been going on.  Too much for me to be able to reflect upon well enough to post to this blog.  All kinds of emotions, both sad and happy.  A beloved Sunday School teacher died from cancer.  An eight year old boy also died, from cancer.  A homeschooling mother of eight finds out she has had a relapse.  And then, there is the fact that we are only a few days from our annual family vacation.  That we have been excited about it, spending a good part of the weekend preparing for the trip and converting our van to be a camper again.  That Self-Reliant Man just celebrated a birthday this weekend.  That our children are challenged, and thriving, in their orchestras.  That they were part of a wonderful Master Class (in the violin) yesterday.  And then there is my exercise regimen.  And our Aldi experiment.  And the passing of a beloved English Mastiff, the dog of a bloggy friend, of whom we have been online fans. And family and friends who were without power for days on account of hurricane Irene.

Yes, so much has been going on that I haven’t been able to write about it.

And then, tragedy struck our family yesterday.  It involved Self-Reliant Man’s mom.  You see, she was eating a Labor Day hot dog in the dining room of her assisted living facility yesterday when she choked.  Nobody on the staff had the sense to try the Heimlich Maneuver.  Never mind the posters on the doors of the kitchen and dining area.  Instead, they did CPR.  We don’t know how many minutes she went without oxygen but she is now in ICU on life support.  Doctors are monitoring her for any sign of consciousness or improvement, but as of yesterday evening things were not looking good.  We are still in disbelief.

Where do I begin to write about this?  Right now, she needs prayer.  For a miracle?  For the Lord to be merciful?  I have no doubt that she is saved and where she will be going.  I am just worried about her getting trapped between here and heaven.

Saturday she called Self-Reliant Man to wish him a happy birthday.  She has had a difficult life; lots of health problems, lots of ups and downs.  But lately she has been up, in a good way.  She has been doing really, really well.  Self-Reliant Man, after hanging up the phone the other day, told us that she was doing really great, as good as ever.  She had just gone out to eat with friends, and had a good time.  She wanted to know all about how we celebrated Self-Reliant Man’s birthday.  She was really thrilled with our children’s involvement with youth orchestra and with Chips’ being Concertmaster.  She had asked him to send her a video of the first performance.  She had just had cataract surgery on one eye, and was about to return to get the other eye done, and she was happy about the results.

In my opinion, our children are way too young to not have a grandma.

I don’t know.  I just don’t know.  I cannot sleep.  I am worried about the outcome in the next few days.  Praying for the Lord’s wisdom, peace, and mercy.