Weird Things...

One time my husband and I were having breakfast at a local diner. It was my birthday...yippee. I noticed that three older women at the next table just kept staring at me. They stared the whole time we were eating. It was starting to make me uncomfortable. Finally, when Cody got up to pay the bill and go to the little boys room, one of the ladies got up and came over to me. She was near tears. She introduced herself, and her two sisters then explained to me why they were staring at me. This is where it gets REALLY weird. The story was that I apparently looked exactly (according to them) like their sister did 30 years ago...the last time they saw her. She was leaving a New Years Eve Party...January 1st 1970. She hasn't been seen or heard from since. Did I mention this weird meeting happened on my birthday, my 30th birthday, I was born on January 9, 1970. Oh...and Gladys...that was my twin's name... she was 29 when she disappeared, but we do not share the same birthdate, WHEW! that would have been WAY too much. It was such an emotional thing for all of them...and I was just totally freaked out. Now I wish I had asked them more questions. I don't know Gladys's last name, or where she was from, or if she had children. One of the sisters told me that they had never given up looking for her. The oldest looking one said it may sound stupid, but now she feels like she found her...(ME!)...although Gladys would have been 59, and surely her looks had changed, the fact that I looked just as they remembered her made them feel happy...like having some "closure". That was one weird "reunion". I have not seen the sisters since that day and have the feeling they were just passing through...I wish we could have stayed in touch...I would like to know more.

On the news tonight they are talking about the Hollaway girl who disappeared in Aruba in 2005 on her SR Class Trip. That's what made me think of Gladys and her sisters.

Dear Season...again

Okay... so Heather doesn't hunt... but ain't she pretty?

This is from one of her MANY high school dances, my beautiful daughter !

Dear Season...again

Baby Bear and Daddy Bear

There's one for THE WALL !

Jacob LOVES hunting and camping, he is hard to keep up with because he REALLY gets into it. He is hoping for his first kill this year !!! Gotta beat Brother Bear !!!!

Deer Season...again

Last year's Big Kill

This is finally one for THE WALL !

Do you think he is proud ?

"Can I borrow $300.00 ?

The taxidermist called...and wouldn't you know it...It's

finally ready !"

"Dad won't give me the money...cuz look... his rack fits

inside of my rack!" says confident son.

"Okay my sweet son, but promise me you won't kill

anything 'worthy of THE WALL' this year" says

wrapped around finger mom.

"Sure MOM...I promise...I LOVE YOU!"

"And consider this your BIG Christmas gift!"

"Sure MOM(unless I find something else I

want/need)...I LOVE YOU!"

"I mean it !" Mom is being stern now.

"Sure MOM...THANKS...I LOVE YOU!"

"I hope his future wife will not mind deer heads on her

walls..." Mom thinks to herself as she is writing out

check for sweet son to 'get gas' so he can go pick up

deer head.

"Thanks MOM...I LOVE YOU!"

Mom suddenly realizes there probably won't be a

'future wife' for sweet son, as she hands him all her

$$$. Why would he give up the generous care of his

beloved MOM.

What's for Dinner?

Tonight me and the kids chipped in to make dinner, it is still 2 days til payday, so we cleaned out the fridge. Jake made shrimp (he ran cold water over them for five minutes )"just like the directions say" then he took the tails off and arranged them on each plate. Heather fried up what was left in the okra bag, and steamed some frozen green beans. I made noodles (out of a bag of course~ but on the stove ). We had alot of fun doing it, and it didn't cost anything. I took pictures on my phone, but I don't know how to get pics from my phone, will post them if I ever figure it out.

A Matter of Heart

Recently, my family got to meet a very special couple.

Bill and Sharon. Our meeting has been coming for nearly three years now.

*Sharon*Cindy*Bill*

Bill was the recipient of my nephew Zachary's Heart.

On November 9, 2005 my family left Saint Francis Hospital with heavy hearts.

We had just experienced the most painful thing our family had ever gone through.

My sister's only born child had died as the result of a 4-wheeler accident.

He was only 15 years old.

We were comforted by an entire community's outpouring of love and support.

The hospital halls and waiting rooms were jam-packed with family, friends, schoolmates, teachers, coaches, and parents.

As soon as we were told the prognosis, my sister asked the most unselfish question.

"Can he be an organ donor?"

My family is full of nurses, so we are medically minded.

Also recently one of our sons' friends had had a grandmother who died while on theliver transplant waiting list.

The process had been discussed, with Zach asking alot of questions ~ he has always been
curious and inquisitive.He had told his mom that when he got his driving permit, he wanted to sign to be an organ donor. He had studied it, and decided it was definately a good thing to do.

At the same time our family grieved, another family received hope, in the form of a phone call.

"Come to the hospital...there is a heart for you..."

According to Bill's wife Sharon, they had been told that her husband's time was running out. If he didn't get a new heart soon....

And they set of for Saint Francis for the beginning of their new journey.

Zachary was able to donate heart, lungs, both kidneys, bone, skin, and eyes. The Lifeshare guy said that after all was done, over 500 people will have been helped. This fact was a grain of comfort in our time of loss.

After 6 weeks we received a letter with basic statistics of the primary organ recipients and a message as to the initial success of the transplants.

We found out ages, state of placement, basic social data.

We learned that Zach's heart had been given to a husband...a father...a grandfather. We found out that he loved doing some of the same activities that Zach had liked, like fishing.

When we were preparing to meet them, my mom and me had talked about being worried that we would be disappointed. We had a vision in our minds of what they needed to be like. The more we talked about it, the more I was certain we would be let down. My sister's main concern was that he might not be taking good care of himself.

It was a bittersweet meeting. Sure, it was a reminder of our loss. But it was also very rewarding to find out that Zach's heart was given to someone who appreciated the GIFT of Life. I know that recipients have to deal with alot, the guilt that someone had to die so that they can live. The fact is, Zach would be gone whether or not Bill had received his Heart or not. I will not lie and say that donor families do not expect the recipients to feel a certain sense of responsibilty that they must make sure that they honor their Gift. I was not disappointed. Bill and his wife displayed so much appreciation. They expressed compassion for our family, a true love that makes a bond that I know will last forever. Their honesty and sincerity, and the way they embraced our family and Zach's friends was amazing. It was a very blessed day.

Girls Night Out

The Secret Life of BeesTonight me and my daughter, Heather went to the movies and saw this movie. She said it was a "mother/daughter movie" and boy was she right. We both laughed, cried, got mad, felt worry, and felt relief. Ultimately we were reminded...once again...how precious a mother/daughter relationship is...to both of us, and to whoever has the priveledge of such a relationship.

Just Hangin' Out

Just Hanging Out... Wait a minute...How did that cat get up there ?
Meet Rowdy
She is Jake's kittycat...last night when I got home

from the ballgame, she was very distressed that Jake

was not with me... she kept going to the door and

meowing...I think she thought I forgot and left him in

the car...when I got up this morning, she was laying

on a dirty t-shirt of Jacob's that she had dug out of the

laundry. He hasn't been home since Monday, so she

had to dig past all week of my clothes to find his shirt.

I was amazed... all this time she had me convinced

that I...(me-the one who feeds her and cleans up after

her) was her favorite person....I guess you just can't

come between a boy and his cat.

Oh me...Oh my...

I have absolutely got sooooooo much to blog about...and I don't even know where to start.
I am having some trouble getting my new pictures to load, so please bear with me... I really, really need to get a new computer, so for tonight I'll just ask one question....
If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation?

Happy Birthday to you...

September 21st Zachary Thomas Reed Kincaid

He would have been 18 today...I miss him...

Fall Pics

November 6, 2005

Heather at an overlook.


Jeremy and Jacob ~ climbing the tower !

Jake "Conqueror of the Universe!"

My Sweet 3, aren't they adorable !?!

These pictures are the ones I label as "before". I guess I am a Marker of Time ...it really isn't intentional...and I know that I drive some people nuts doing it, but...I can't help it... it is just how I am...anyways these pictures were taken the weekend before Zach died. I consider this to be a time of innocence, before my family had been through the horror of losing someone close to you. These pictures were taken on the last outing our little family had. We had a great day. It was peaceful and everyone seemed to enjoy one another's company, which was no small feat for us. The next few days would bring tragedy to our lives, nothing would ever be the same. It changed us all. We have had good times and bad since then, but it all seems marked. I cherish the memories of that last family outing. Ironically, the fact that we could take for granted our time together is one of the things I miss, we are all now bitterly aware that tomorrow is not a promise but rather a gift.

Cocoa Feathers

HUH ?

Protect those eyes...

feather pillows will GET you every time!

My Easy Rider

Jake, taking it easy, going for a ride on his motorcycle.

He's a Cooool Rider!

My Best Friend

Just "Read the writing on the wall"

Amanda is who I call when I need someone to talk to...even more important...she is who calls me when I haven't even realized that I need to talk (until I notice how much better I'm feeling)...she is more than just a friend... she is my soul sister(and maybe more~ so MANY people get us mixed up or just assume that we are real sisters that we sometimes wonder if any of our parents knew each other 30 or so years ago...hhmm...)

Go Big Wolves

The

Heavener

Wolves

Won!

In just the 2nd game of the season ~ the 1st Home game ~ in the sometimes pouring down rain...our boys defeated Union Christian in a 28-0 shut-out. Finally! GO TEAM !

Happy Birthday to you...

JEREMY

From 4 months to 18 years ~ from baldy to hippie

Happy Birthday son...

I Love You!

R U Ready for some football

R U READY 4 SOME FOOTBALL !?!

Heavener Wolves played their 1st game of the 2008 Season on the road in Gore this past Friday night. We lost, but we did score 32 points!

These pics are from the 2006 season. Jeremy was #38. Jake and Jeremy were probably fighting over Taylor in the top pic of the three of them. Todd is the painted face.

Friends~CoWorkers~Family: One in the Same

I know I have been whining alot about all the hours I have been putting in at work lately, but to be honest,during these past few extremely stressful, near nervous-breakdown months, it has been helpful to be surrounded be such supportive, smart, and compassionate ladies.

We have such a great team at the clinic where I work. We share joys, sadness, triumphs and troubles of all kinds. We offer each other advice, praise, criticism, encouragement, guidence, help (whether you ask for it or not). It really is like having a whole bunch of sisters. (yes we fight sometimes)


They make me LAUGH.

And LAUGHTER is GOOD FOR the SOUL!!

THANKS LADIES XOXOXO

In Memory...

Our family lost a Precious Loved One on August 27, 2008. Granny Steelman was a beautiful, energetic, wise, and inspiring christian lady. She was ready to "FLY AWAY" as she often said. Although she had no REAL health issues, she had lately become increasingly weary of the world, "just tired",ready to see Heaven and "missing" all those that had gone on before her. She was ready...we were not.



These are picture from her birthday party year before last, she did not make it to her 83rd birthday this year. We all expected this sweet woman to pass quietly in her sleep. Instead she died a tragic death, in a car accident. Lilly never had a drivers license~ she just never had a desire to drive, it seems ironic that she would die as such in a car wreck, even as a passenger. Luckily (THANK YOU GOD) her grand-daughter and daughter-in-law who were with her will recover from their injuries.
We can't help but ask WHY?
Well I have my opinion, and since this is my blog, I will share them...I feel better knowing that she didn't die alone, she was with people she loved, who loved her, they had a GREAT last day, doing the things she loved doing, she died LIVING her life, to me that is so much more comforting than finding her some morning, not knowing for sure what her last moments were like. I know everyone doen't agree with my perspective, but they don't have to. And maybe I CAN have that perspective because I am a nurse. Also, if she had died in her sleep, it wouldn't have been such a WAKE-UP call. Granny's most insistant prayers and conversations were related to her desire to see ALL of her family saved and living for the Lord. Her unexpected time and manner of death underscored the fact that we all need to be ready...
Granny, I will miss you, I wish my children would have had more time with you, but I know they will all have very special memories of you. Thank you for everything you have taught me, actually shown to me and through the example of your life. I Love You...

Blog Slacker

I Know I've Been Laying Down On The Job Lately ...being a BLOG~SLACKER...

This is how I have felt lately...but actually it's Heather, when she was around five. She was kind of like Garfield ...All Go~Go~Go...then suddenly~NAP ATTACK!

Anyways, my blog slacking has been mostly due to fighting with my computer, and trust me...IT is WINNING. The only thing keeping IT from becoming a boat anchor is all the pictures that I haven't gotten off of it yet. IT has let me have some pics... just enough to tease me. IT hasn't made things easy.

I have tried to blog at work, but work has actually been REAL work this past week...uuhhgg!

I will try to do better my dear blog friends.

I don't know why IT is letting me work on my stuff tonight...probably because I need to go to bed cuz I AM EXHAUSTED...but I don't know when IT will let me back in again... so...IT wins again...SLEEP DEPRIVATION...GEEEEEEZZZ!!

WOMEN RULE!!!

Okay Crystal...this one is for you!

Finally !! I recently went to a very large convention in Dallas, attended mostly by women. I was very pleased that the convention location was willing to cater to our needs ...of MUCH more available restroom space. Two of every three men's rooms were converted to women's rooms temporarily. And not only did they give us the much needed extra space, they were thoughtful enough to make it PRETTY!

My Boys and their Girls

These are pictures of Jacob on his mule Popcorn and Jeremy with his mule Annabell. Our mules are like members of our family, they act more like the family dog, I am not sure they know they are mules. We have two more, you can see them later. Annabell is a very special mule. She was actually born to one of our horses, but was already given to a friend of mines daughter. Brittany babied Goldie (the momma horse) every day, anxiously awaiting the birth of her baby. Brittany died in a car wreck, and Annabell was born the same morning that we laid Brittany to rest. Our sorrow in the loss of our loved one was eased by witnessing one of God's miracles. We arrived at the barn to check on Goldie just as Annabell was making her first tentative steps on those long skinny legs. We cried and we laughed. It was very appropriate for God to give us Annabell to ease our grief and remind us of the gift of life.She is a very special mule indeed...and she knows it!