Happy Late Birthday, Ron!!

Happy Late Birthday!

I realize that these wishes for Ron a happy birthday come very late, especially considering his birthday was July 3rd.  However, after burying his pawpaw the day before, we really weren't in the celebrating mood!  Here's hoping that you have many, many more years to come to celebrate your birthday!  And I promise with all that is in me, if at all possible, your next birthday will be a blast!  Happy, happy late birthday to my dear hubby!

In Memory of Roy Leon Smith

June 28th marked a sad day for us...Pawpaw, Ron's grandfather, passed away.  He had been in the hospital for a few weeks with health issues and we all knew he was not in the best of health.  Yet, it came as a shock to receive the call that he had passed away a little after 5a.m. on Monday, June 28th.  Although he was my grandfather by marriage, never once did he make me feel like I was not a part of the family.  After all, he was the only grandfather alive for both Ron and I; he was also the only great-grandfather that Zachary and Zane ever really knew.  Words cannot explain how much he really meant to all of us and we are so sad to have lost such a great man in our family!  I wrote a poem that came to me after he passed and I am posting it as a tribute to Pawpaw.  The poem sums him up like no other words could describe.  Rest in Peace, Pawpaw.

A Man called Pawpaw

There is a great man

I call Pawpaw and friend..

He had the scowl of a bear,

but a love without end.

His nickname was Kraut

that he rightfully earned

His sweetheart was Addie,

and for her, he yearned..

Many years ago,

they tied the knot.

Then he served in the war

and for freedom he fought.

Together they raised

3 wonderful boys,

he taught them about life

and the meaning of joys.

He taught them to be

honest and true,

but the very best thing

he really did do,

was to live as an example

for his boys to see,

and of Butch, Ronnie and Jerry,

he was proud of all three.

As the years passed

his family grew,

with the addition of 'daughters'

he already knew,

that his boys would leave home

to start families of their own,

to share their seeds of love

that he had sown.

But he became pawpaw

with the birth of little Ron,

then Jennifer, Brian, and Michael

but the list goes on...

Jeremy and Barbara would

finish the crew...

with all these grandbabies

time really flew...

Next thing you know

great-grandkids were born,

creating this big family of

whom he adorned.

Before he knew it

Father Time had marched in,

grey hair and wrinkles appeared

where none had been.

Along came aches and pains

as his body grew old,

while he tried to be

strong and bold.

But like people in the future

as well as the past,

we know that this body

won't forever last.

He finally decided

that his family was strong,

and for his Heavenly Father

he very much longed.

So with one last breath

he departed this life,

leaving his loving family

and beautiful wife.

Forever we will remember

this wonderful man,

a man I call Pawpaw,

a man I call friend!

by Stacy Smith

Better late than never?

It has been some time since I updated my blog, so I will try to catch up eventually!!!  On March 26th, we got a call late that night saying that Memaw, Ron's grandmother, had fallen and hit her head and she was being rushed to the hospital.  She had just checked on her oxygen machine for the night and was turning around to go to bed and she stumbled and fell flat on her face!  She severely damaged her right eye and was transferred to Baylor Hospital to a eye specialist and they did surgery the next evening.  However, she did have bleeding on the brain and was in pretty serious condition.  To make a long story short, she lost the sight in her eye and ended up having a stroke a week later.  The stroke affected her swallowing and her whole left side.  She ended up staying in the hospital until June 28th, which was 3 months and 2 days, and after all that she went through, she will never be able to live on her own again...which is very sad for the whole family considering how independent she and Pawpaw had been for many years. 
On May 13th, I had nose surgery due to a deviated septum and both nasal passages were collapsed.  It was a day surgery with only about a week for down time at home.  After that I was up and ready to go! 

The school year ended with both boys passing with flying colors and Zane was on the 'A' honor roll for the year!! We are so proud of him!
The first weekend in June, the boys and I went to my family reunion...the Norton family reunion in Heber Springs, Arkansas.  Nana and Poppa Roy went with us and we had a really great time!  It was so good to visit with family we haven't seen for over 2 years.  I think the boys wanted to go to play in the pool, and play they did!!  It was hard to get them out of the pool but they had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave. 

The first two weeks of June brought swim lessons for Zane and he really did great!!  By the end of the two weeks, he was jumping in 10 feet of water and swimming really good!  But we were glad when it was over, so we could finally sleep in!!  The third week of June was Junior Camp at Lufkin, Texas for Zachary!  He had a blast hanging out with friends and had awesome church services!  He came back almost hoarse from yelling and shouting so much!  He had so much fun he was ready to head back the next week for Senior camp.  I was also planning on going to Senior camp to serve as a dorm matron...but little did we know that God had other plans for us because of a change that was coming to our family!