Matters of Life and Death
Our deepest sympathies to the families of Josh Clark, Keane Moss, James DeAnda, and Tiffany LeTexier in Sierra Vista, AZ.
A chance encounter last week, led us to the LaTexier family, and the story unfolded from there. How the parents cope with the pain of this terrible tragedy is a mystery. Please pray for them.
Tiffany’s mother used a teapot that Tiffany created as a gift to hold her daughter’s cremains.
We lost a good friend in the garden last week, Joe Rook on 9/5/07.
Joe had a double lung transplant at Barnes Jewish Hospital in April. The last three months of Joe’s life was amazing; he enjoyed every day to the fullest!
Lakin’ it and loving life! Joe belonged to Rice Camp at Table Rock Lake and spent most of his free time at his lake home. Nothing would make Joe happier than a 100-degree day and a bottle of suntan oil!
Joe knew no strangers, and had countless friends that he helped make it through life by helping them to live it “One Day at a Time!” His trademark was “It’s a beautiful day in the Ozarks!”
Joe belonged to the Gate of the Temple Lodge, and was a thirty-second degree Mason. He was on the Shriners’ Directors Staff and was active with the Shriners’ Hospital Dads. Joe traveled many miles transporting children to St. Louis, helping them to get the medical care that they needed.
We’ll miss Joe and send our deepest sympathies to his wife Sharon, and kids Sonya and Jodie and extended family.
Collecting ourselves after a whirlwind week! Hummingbirds are hitting the feeders hard, despite the downpour. And you know what that means?
Merry Ho-Ho! Last year, Hobby Lobby got the award for Earliest Christmas Merchandising Effort when they started stocking in July. Haven’t checked their progress this year.
Now, let’s get serious for a minute.
First up, Candace over at Repose is archiving her mother’s fascinating story of a teenager in war-torn Czechoslovakia.
Earlier that year, the government had closed all of the high schools to support the war effort. All of the teachers were pressed into military service. All of the other girls my age were made to work for the German Army or “Arbeitsdienst†to help run the farms or the hospitals which had lost workers to the war as well.
The boys my age were all drafted too. They received three months of marching training, and then were showed how to hold a gun. Then they were sent to the Russian front.
Candace shared her story of creating her brother’s urn:
I carved one from wood and buried it in our childhood back yard. I used twigs from bushes in the yard, painted it with spirit circle patterns and filled it with the most beautiful flowers I could find. Then put the ashes in a velvet pouch and added letters written to him.
It was a long time ago but I still miss him so very much. He was not only my brother but a very good friend and some days I still cannot believe he is gone. In Repose was created, in part, because of him.
Beautiful.
Our condolences go out to the family of Daniel Joseph Feather, 29. We hit the “Baboon” occasionally, and followed his dream of getting THE dream bike. His 8/6 entry, “Fear is the Mind Killer” is eerily prophetic. Shiny Red Triumph arrives on at the end of July, Dan dies on his dream bike two weeks later.
Heavy.
Where do we go from here?
Today’s tip: Turn your lights on!
From the sports desk:
Associated Press
July 24, 2007
SAN ANTONIO – Mike Coolbaugh became a coach with the Tulsa Drillers earlier this month not so much for the job itself, but because his little boys loved to see him on the baseball field.
“He had just started,” said Coolbaugh’s wife, Amanda, who is expecting their third child in October. “We were going to be done with it, but his kids wanted to see him.”
Coolbaugh died Sunday after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first base coach’s box during a game in Arkansas. He was 35.
Amanda Coolbaugh, 32, said they planned to wait to find out the baby’s sex until the birth. The couple has two sons, Joseph, 5, and Jacob, 3.
According to a report on the Drillers’ website, Coolbaugh was knocked unconscious and CPR was administered to him on the field. Sgt. Terry Kuykendall, spokesman for North Little Rock police, said Coolbaugh stopped breathing as an ambulance arrived at the hospital.
The game between the Double A Drillers, a Rockies’ affiliate, and Arkansas Travelers was suspended in the ninth. Coolbaugh was taken to Baptist Medical Center-North Little Rock, where he was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m.
Our hearts go out to the family of Casey Adams of Santa Rosa, CA who was killed this past weekend on a camping trip. 26 years old. Here’s the sketchy heart breaking story.
We’re noticing a trend of MySpace pages that are turning into online memorials and video tributes uploaded to YouTube. There’s even an archive of deceased Myspace members on My Death Space page.
Virginia Tech set up an official Virginia Tech MySpace page days after the shooting and more than 7650 people listed themselves as friends of that page.
A West Virginia blogger started a collection of personal web sites and MySpace pages of Virginia Tech victims. West Virginia blogger says, “I am doing this in good taste. I hope it doesn’t offend anyone. The reason behind this is that it’s one thing to hear a list of names on TV, or read them online, but if you take a second to view a bit of the persons personal life it will give you a deeper understanding of that person.”