more pictures

There are more pictures and videos at www.flickr.com/photos/summerlins (but, sigh, still unsteadiness)

EASTER?

PUTTING OUT FEELERS? WHO CAN COME TO MY HOUSE FOR LUNCH ON EASTER SUNDAY? PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP.

I PREFER TO HAVE THE BYRUM FAMILY ON EASTER AND THE BLANCHARDS ON MOTHER'S DAY. THE REASON THAT I WANT TO KNOW ASAP IS THAT IF THE BYRUMS CAN'T COME, I'LL INVITE THE BLANCHARDS AND THEN I'LL HAVE OFF ON MOTHER'S DAY!

Paige

After the funeral for Aunt Carrie, I emailed Paige. This was her response.

It was good to see you and Rick and the rest of the family as well. I had never talked to Yvonne before so I enjoyed getting to know her. Thanks for the update on your family. I did not know that you had lost your sister Gloria and I am so sorry.

If you read my letter to your Dad, you know how I have struggled over the years with Leona's unwillingness to have a relationship with me so it made it very difficult to be with the rest of the family. I regret that I did not try to continue to have a relationship with the rest of the family. All of you are just wonderful and I know that I missed a lot that I could have enjoyed if I had continued to be with you in spite of how Leona felt about me. I don't ever what any of you to think that I did not care about you or want to have a relationship with you because that is not the case. I never felt like I had the right to a relationship with any of you since Leona did not want a relationship with me. Of course now I know that was a line Satan was feeding me, but at the time that is how I felt. I'm not sure how much any of you know about my desire to have a relationship with Leona. When Grover and I found our grandparents, they gave me Leona's address and phone number and I immediately contacted her when we returned home. She made it very clear in a letter she wrote to my foster mother that she did not want anything to do with me. This was such a shock because no one ever told me why I did not live with my family so in my innocent mind I just assumed that we had become separated and we would find our way back to each other. I did not contact her any more but attended my grandparents funerals and thought surely she would want to have a relationship with me when she saw me there with our daughter which would have been her only grandchild. Wrong again. She promptly left as soon as she saw me. When Christy was a baby, Grover decided to look Larry up and see if he would like to see me. He found him and Larry was happy to know where I was as Leona had told him a family in California had adopted me and she did not know where I was. We spent some happy times together but when he and his first wife divorced, I did not hear from him anymore. When Larry died, I went to his funeral and tried to talk to Leona after the visitation but she would not talk to me. A few years after that, I wrote her a letter and explained that I did not have any hard feelings about her giving me away but would like to have a relationship with her. I never received a reply. When I was home sick one day, I decided to call her and I asked her to please not hang up. I was so shocked that she did not hang up that I completely forgot all that I wanted to say to her. I told her about our two grandchildren and asked how she and her husband were and also asked her about any health issues I should be aware of . She said there were no health issues. I don't even remember how the conversation ended but I still had hope that one day she would call and we could sit down and talk about all that had happened. When Uncle Cecil called to let me know that Leona had passed away, I was blown away. I simply could not believe that she had died without us ever being able to discuss some things on my heart. No one can imagine what I went through during that time. If it were not for my relationship with God and Christ, I could never have gotten through what I have been through. You would think that it would be easier as I get older but it hasn't gotten easier because I was never given any answers to questions that I had. I didn't mean to rattle on, but I hope that sharing some of this will help you and my other cousins understand why it has been so hard to try to have a relationship with each of you. It has nothing to do with any of you.

Please continue to keep in touch.

Love,

Paige

Gone to a better place

Tonight just after 9 P.M. a fellow teacher from my hall passed away after a long battle with leukemia. Jenni Cornwell was only 26 years old. She was an amazing teacher. Jenni was full of energy and inspired all of us to be better teachers. I ask you for your prayers for her husband Josh and their families as they struggle with Jenni's passing. Her husband set up a blog spot and between 9 P.M.and now there are over 72 posts. The site is Jennibugg.blogspot.com.

Howie