I joined a group on Facebook that was all about figuring out how us Genaw's are related... I almost immediately found my dad's cousin and her daughter! How cool is that!!
This is a picture of the family before my grandfather was born.... these are my great grandparents and four of the 7 total children they ended up having!
And a later photo with all of the children. I believe that my grandfather is the one sitting in the middle between his parents. And this is a picture of my great great grandparents (on the left) and a great great grandmother (mother of my great grandmother). I've always had an interest in family history, and now these photos are springing up! I'm in genealogy heaven!
I also found out tonight that I am a direct descendant of someone who was involved in the Louis and Clark expedition. George Droulliard was a sign talker and hunter for Louis and Clark. George was a great grandfather of my great grandmother Elizabeth Droulliard Genaw. Super cool! :)
Because I'm going through stretches of not putting up pictures of the "kids", I'm doing it in bulk from time to time. I'm wrapping up my first semester as a grad student (whew) and am preparing for next semester (neuroanatomy and neurophysiology anyone? *ugh*). I'm wrapping up the semester on the job and doing progress reports on the 67 kids on my caseload (whew again). Given that it's Christmas time, we're doing all sorts of fun artsy projects now too.... it's fun, don't get me wrong, but it requires a lot more work!!! :)
So without further adeiu.... the reason you CAME to this post!!!!
There are many times that I absolutely love this dog.... those times are when Sedona is NOT in season! ;-) He's such a handsome devil... the sweet innocent look helps! :)
A pretty sunset that we had on the 28th...
My bluetiful boy - relaxing outside on the patio during the evening
Some may not like his head, but I sure do... :)
Chance and Sedona playing "stand off" - Piper didn't understand that she wasn't part of their game! ;-)
My handsome Kota... so regal and handsome... (Kathy, note the tongue) :)
Piper examining her first Christmas tree...
Piper the Santa Puppy! :) (is she adorable, or what?)
Sedona was NOT thrilled about me wanting to wrap her in lights.... can't imagine why! ;-)
The day after Thanksgiving when the kids were over... Eryka LOVED Piper to bits... and Piper loved her right back!!! :)
Can anyone say DOOOOORRKK!!?? Silly Piper!
She's such a pretty girl, and OH so tolerant!
My mom and Piper showing love to each other... Eryka couldn't give up control tho! ;-)
Mom with her all time favorite dog in the whole wide world.... ;-) her BAYBEE!
More lovin' from Grammy....
Another silly picture of Eryka and Piper...
Joseph being the dog whisperer ;-)
a family shot.... a good one of the people, but not so great of the dogs...
Better one of the dogs, but not of the people! ;-)
This is my step-father, John, and his 86 year old mother, Betty.
John with his grandchildren, Eryka (11), and Joseph (12) (John's sons kids). My mom and John have had them and have been raising them since they were almost 3 and 4 years old (Eryka's birthday is in September, and Joseph's is in June).
Me, my mom, John's mom Betty, John's daughter, Patty, and the kids kneeling.
The best of the pictures taken of me and mom on Thanksgiving.
One of the "outtakes" - me being annoyed with my mom....
Mom being a brat...
Me and the kids :) I hadn't seen them in 3 years! They've grown up so much!!
We all went out to Buca de Beppo for Thanksgiving with John's family (his sister and brother-in-law, their daughter and two of their grandchildren.... another brother, his daughter, mother, me, mom and the two kids and John of course). It was a nice dinner overall.... I dont' see that side of the family often (for a reason) ;-) I'm glad I got pictures tho!
Mom came home with me Thanksgiving night and we went back for the kids on Friday. We spent all day Friday together before I had to take them back to the hotel so they could get ready to go back to Texas Saturday morning. I wish I could have had more time with my mom, but I'm thankful for the time I got! :)
Today my dad would have turned 71. I've been on the emotional side today, and even warned the kids that I "didn't feel all that well" so to take it easy on me. For the most part, they did!
Seems weird not to call him and wish the old man a happy birthday... I meant to get a balloon and release it, but I just didn't have time. :( He knows I was thinking of him a lot today, so a balloon wouldn't have mattered, in the big scheme of things.
I'm so thankful that he's no longer struggling, but when I think about the fact that in 5 days it will have been 6 months since he passed away, it amazes me. Most of the time it seems like just yesterday. :( Every 21 days the voicemail he left me on Christmas morning comes up to be resaved, so I hear his voice... I thought for sure it would come up today, since it's had an odd habit of popping up at odd times. Case in point. It was left Christmas morning. It came up to be resaved the day he died. It came up to be saved the day I got into grad school. I almost wish it had come up to be saved today, but.....
I miss my dad. He and I weren't SUPER close like he was with the kids with him there in Virginia, but he was my dad... i was his last born. There is nothing that could change that.
I miss you dad. I hope you had a good birthday in heaven. I'm sure you're still a dirty ole man, even up in heaven! :)
My step-mom Kim called to tell me this story... I still am in awe of it happening, but there were three other witnesses to it, besides her, so I know it's true.....
Yesterday Kim and her neighbors were sitting on the shared porch smoking together when a Monarch butterfly flew up and starting flying around Kim's head. The neighbor lady, Debbie, said to Kim, "what's up with that butterfly!" After a bit, Kim replied, "it's my sign..... but I can't decide if it's Tanya or Rick." After she said that, the butterfly went and landed on Debbie's chest. That was a guarantee it was Dad. No doubt!! Haha! Kim said to the butterfly (she's not crazy, I swear), "Get off of there!" and then as it flew off of Debbie, Kim said "yep, that's Rick!" and they proceeded to laugh together. (Dad was always a pervert!) The butterfly then went and fluttered around the hood of Dad's car. It still sits in the same spot he last parked it in. She said it flew around and circled the hood for a while, then went and fluttered around the angel statue my sister Brandi bought Kim soon after Dad died. Kim then said to the butterfly "you can come closer", and the butterfly landed on her hand! She said it sat there for a minute or two!!!! It flew away after that.
She feels confident that THAT was her sign from Dad that he got his wings. I feel confident in it too. I teased and said "well it's about time! Took him darned near 3 months!" and she said "he had more repentance to do!!" Haha.
Some believe in stories like this, and some don't - but I for one do.... with every fiber of my being.
I'm glad you have your wings, Dad.... now come and see me! :)
On Wednesday March 4th I flew out to Virginia to be with my family as we saw the end of the road for my Dad. The doctors told us he would not come off of the ventilator, so the family needed to come, as he was nearing the end of the allotted time he would be allowed to be on the ventilator without having a trach put in. The night I got in, my sister Brandi took me to the hospital first, to see Marqus... my sister Sharla's baby boy who was born 8 weeks early and who was still in the NICU in Charlottesville. As expected, he was teeny, but so incredibly perfect.
Before heading home, we went to Rockingham Memorial Hospital, where Dad was. Brandi went in first and woke Dad up, telling him I was there. He got really agitated and it was obvious he knew I was there. I moved over to his right side so he could see me and I just sat and talked to him. All while I was talking to him, his left eye was open just staring at me, listening. As I told him that I loved him, he tried to tell me too. He couldn't speak, obviously, since he had tubes down his throat. I told him about everything that was going on.... about applying to Grad School, and starting the process of buying a house (have I mentioned these things? another post I guess..). He listened intently. I told him these things because that's what I knew he'd want to hear. After a while I let him rest, but I think he felt better knowing that I was there. I was told later that he hadn't opened his eyes that day.... that convinced me more than ever that he knew i was there and that he was aware.
Thursday we all were in and out of the CCU (Critical Care Unit) spending our time with Dad. He was pretty sedated, and I never got a reaction like I did Wednesday night, but he knew we were all there for him.
Friday we had everyone there, and we had the doctors extubate him. The doctors told us that he would not survive off of the ventilator, and that we should all be present. Just in typical Dad fashion, he proved the doctors wrong again. Dad was extubated at noon on Friday and by 9:30pm we were starting to trickle out of the hospital needing rest ourselves. We knew it was just a matter of time, since dad couldn't go on like he was forever. I went back to the house with my step-mom Kim, and we went to sleep. We got "the call" at 2:33am. Dad passed 3 minutes prior - at 2:30am 3/7/09. It was peaceful and he had loved ones by his side.
Saturday morning Kim and I went down to the funeral home to begin making arrangements for the services. We were to have a viewing and a memorial service. I was there to help pick out the casket, and to help write the obituary, and to ask all the questions I needed to ask of the funeral home staff. I'm so thankful I was allowed to be part of the process - I think it helped me in many ways.
When we went back later that day to take Dad's clothes to them, this was already posted: It was weird seeing it in print.....
There are two ironies about the day that Dad died... ok, well more than that, but let's take it one step at a time. Back many many years ago, dad used to play pool with a guy named "Shorty". Several years ago, Shorty died in an accident. The irony? He died March 7th. He and Dad used to play Pool on Saturday nights. Dad died 3/7 - Saturday morning.
The next irony was that my sister had Marqus 8 weeks early - but her baby shower had already been planned. Yep - you guessed it. For 3/7.
Since there was nothing else we could do that day, we headed over to the baby shower. She got some very nice things.... And I, of course, had to theme my gifts - Dogs :) The last irony was that while in the baby shower, my mom called to tell me about the flowers she was sending. In order for me to hear her voicemail, I had to listen to and resave or delete a message that had been previously saved. My messages save for 21 days. The message I had to listen to? Yep. Dad - on Christmas. And right after that, I heard this song come on the radio....(for years and years Dad was an over the road truck driver and the old country stuff always reminds me of him)
Here, Dakota and Paige are playing on the Playstation together. They are both Paul's kids... Outside of the apartment... from left to right: Marne in the pink, Gus sitting on the steps, Lyn in the back, and Tina on the right... Kim has had this photo frame sitting in her guest bedroom for a while and Marne decided she needed to do something with it. Didn't it turn out great? We took it to Dad's services, even. Part of the spray of flowers that were on the casket... I thought they were beautiful. The night of the funeral - Gus, Kim's brother, and Lyn, my cousin, enjoying beers together. 4 year old Paige, finally smiles for pictures!!!! :) Marne, Paul and I hanging out together the afternoon of the memorial service. Me and Tina (Paul's wife, Paige's mom) me and Marne Bill, Kim and Marne My cousins, Lyn and Pam me and the best step mother anyone could ever ask for! :) Brandi's daughter, Angel Such a great picture of such a wonderful woman... Kim and her oldest son (my idiot brother) JR, and his wife Cyndi Kim and her youngest son (my other idiot brother) Paul and his wife Tina Lyn, me and Pam Gus and Kim - brother and sister me, Lyn and Brandi Brandi and her mama :) Pam, Lyn, Kim and I JR, KaLeanna, me, Brandi, Marne and Paul me and my darling niece, Autumn (Paul's oldest) Sharla and Chase (Marqus's mom and dad) Paul's kids : Autumn (9), Dakota (9), and Paige (4) and the teeny beautiful baby boy, Marqus Evan.... (who has his feeding tube out now! yay!!) Marqus and his mama on 3/11/09 Paul being a dork I took a walk on one of my last days and spied some signs of spring.... The tower was intriguing me for some reason, so I took a few shots looking up at it... not sure what it was used for, but I thought it was interesting... This building is just down the street from Dad and Kim's house... the police are there, and who knows what else... but it's a cool looking building :) More signs of spring.... Tina pushing Paige on the swings at the park down the street Kim relaxing on the slides at the park.... And finally, the urn Kim chose for Dad to rest in... sitting right at the table looking out the window just as he did every day he lived there :) (ok, so he probably won't always sit at the table, but he was at this time, and I thought it was fitting). It's still a little strange to think that he's gone... not as strange for me though, I'm sure, as it is for my siblings who were there all the time and saw him. Never-the-less, he's my father, and he's not around anymore. That qualifies for "strange" in my book. I'm just glad he's at rest and isn't having to struggle for each breath....
Now the task is picking up and resuming life as normal. I promised him I'd get my Grad School application in, and I did that yesterday. Now I have to get the documents together for the Mortgage guy so I can get rolling on the whole house buying thing... I promised my Dad I would follow through with these things, and I will...
Thank you to everyone who was so supportive during this trip - to all who sent messages of encouragement, and support and love - your notes were SO appreciated... more than I could begin to say. Thank you!!
And a later photo with all of the children. I believe that my grandfather is the one sitting in the middle between his parents. 
And this is a picture of my great great grandparents (on the left) and a great great grandmother (mother of my great grandmother). 
I've always had an interest in family history, and now these photos are springing up! I'm in genealogy heaven! 
