Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Four Years Today...
Pops...
It's been four years ago today that you passed. Just a drop by of your blog to let you know that you are in my thoughts on a consistent basis and your values that were instilled in me from childhood still hold strong. Have not looked at this blog in a long time, yet when I do it reconnects me to your struggle and time at the end. Wish you were still dropping bass notes in the choir and cycling around the world. Love ya...
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Happy B Day Pops
May they have carrot salad in Heaven. Have a great day, eon, or existence now that you are not of this world. Thinking of you today on this earthly realm. You are loved and dearly missed.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Burial Details
Pops burial of his ashes will be on Sunday, June 28th at 3 PM in Moorhead, Iowa. Not expecting anyone to come but immediate family, but all are welcome. The closest airport is Omaha, Nebraska if you fly in.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Summer Plans
Haven't written in a long time. KA keeps telling me to get going on our family blog but I haven't had the sense of purpose to fire it up yet. Things with Mom are going OK. She is now settled in DeSoto, Texas and the phone number is 972 298 1873. She is getting going and still unpacking. Adele is still in the house and looking to move into another place- so they are roommates- Sweet!
Mom has plans this summer of going to a camp reunion in Bandera, Texas in June and then up to Iowa to a class reunion. Many years since high school for EE- I don't know how many, but a lot. Should be quite a party. Our family is going to meet her in Iowa and Adele will travel with her. She can't travel alone at this time. Our big plan is to bury Pops ashes at their gravesite. I wanted the whole family to be a part of it as a closure issue so we are going to make that part of our summer trip. Every year we head out for a 10 to 14 day excursion and go different see areas. We've done the North West, Texas/ Oklahoma and last year we did the New England thing. This year we are going to Iowa! Yippee! We actually will then hit the Dakotas and Yellowstone and then work our way down to Colorado and see a baseball game. We StubHub'ed some tickets for July 3rd. D Backs at Rockies. Then we'll head for home.
Things are going well. Zane and Noah are plating soccer. Zane is into it- Noah is not. I think he is done with the Euro Futbol. Zane has really improved with his soccer. Other parents are even telling me this at the games. He is getting big and fast. He is almost 5'9" and wearing a size 12 shoe. Wonder where he gets that from. Noah is also playing baseball and I coach his team. We are the Astros and were a good little team. We actually play tonight. It is a lot of fun to coach and watch the kids develop. Noah will pitch a little and then anchor the team as the catcher. He is hitting the ball well from the left side of the plate. I will update accordingly.
Mom has plans this summer of going to a camp reunion in Bandera, Texas in June and then up to Iowa to a class reunion. Many years since high school for EE- I don't know how many, but a lot. Should be quite a party. Our family is going to meet her in Iowa and Adele will travel with her. She can't travel alone at this time. Our big plan is to bury Pops ashes at their gravesite. I wanted the whole family to be a part of it as a closure issue so we are going to make that part of our summer trip. Every year we head out for a 10 to 14 day excursion and go different see areas. We've done the North West, Texas/ Oklahoma and last year we did the New England thing. This year we are going to Iowa! Yippee! We actually will then hit the Dakotas and Yellowstone and then work our way down to Colorado and see a baseball game. We StubHub'ed some tickets for July 3rd. D Backs at Rockies. Then we'll head for home.
Things are going well. Zane and Noah are plating soccer. Zane is into it- Noah is not. I think he is done with the Euro Futbol. Zane has really improved with his soccer. Other parents are even telling me this at the games. He is getting big and fast. He is almost 5'9" and wearing a size 12 shoe. Wonder where he gets that from. Noah is also playing baseball and I coach his team. We are the Astros and were a good little team. We actually play tonight. It is a lot of fun to coach and watch the kids develop. Noah will pitch a little and then anchor the team as the catcher. He is hitting the ball well from the left side of the plate. I will update accordingly.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Ice Road Truckers
Mom is now in Kansas City until Easter. My buddy Chuck and I drove her stuff that was here in Utah back to KC last week in a period of "bad timing." We drove up to I 70 and headed east. We hit terrible roads pretty much all the way. We went through Denver-airport closed, headed into KC- airport closed. We saw over 30 accidents and saw 6 happen in front of us. Truckers told us we were "crazy" to try to go over Vail pass until it cleared. That is why we are now Ice Road Truckers. Me from Houston and Chuck from LA- experienced winter drivers to say the least.
We made it back and Mom will now leave early next week and go to DeSoto, Texas (near Dallas). She seems to be adjusting well and I know she will be happy when she is settled. Her motto to me when I was there was "bloom where your planted." It will be a process but it is part of the life cycle- not to be dismissed. We all get it. I just read Tuesdays with Morrie and it is interesting how the dealing with death process is so familiar. I enjoyed the book and found it comforting. I am now starting the book about The Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon. I can't remember the actual title but it seems good so far. Will keep you posted on new events in EE's life and will put my family blog on here someday- just kinda done with it for right now.
We made it back and Mom will now leave early next week and go to DeSoto, Texas (near Dallas). She seems to be adjusting well and I know she will be happy when she is settled. Her motto to me when I was there was "bloom where your planted." It will be a process but it is part of the life cycle- not to be dismissed. We all get it. I just read Tuesdays with Morrie and it is interesting how the dealing with death process is so familiar. I enjoyed the book and found it comforting. I am now starting the book about The Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon. I can't remember the actual title but it seems good so far. Will keep you posted on new events in EE's life and will put my family blog on here someday- just kinda done with it for right now.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
My Popsy Doodles-by KA
I do not have the wit of this blogs author. However, he said I have an "in" with him and he allowed me to post. Ever since the Celebration I have had some things I have wanted to say. I don't know if I would have been able to talk that day because I was so emotional and Matt/I felt everyone who came needed the time more urgently than we did. I feel so blessed to have gotten to spend so much time with Pops in his last days. Many times I got to talk with him one on one about how much he meant to me. Now I feel the need to express some of my own grief publicly.
When Matt and I started dating in 1992 we knew pretty quickly that we were now involved in something more serious than our previous relationships. Thanksgiving that year, Matt took me to Dallas to meet his parents. I recall meeting John/Eileen and feeling quite comfortable with both of them. Two things I remember most were, Matt being so impressed with how John took to me, and John having this conversation with me about how I "must" be a runner. I guess he thought with my 95 lb. frame I would be fast and have an easy time running. Little did he know he was looking at his future daughter-in-law whom has never had an athletic bone in her body. That did this year influence my decision to train and run the St.George Marathon, however I was neither fast nor was it easy.
John and I had always been able to tease one another. There was an ease about being with him. Perhaps it was that we had our New England roots, or just that I usually was a daddy's girl and expected the same from him.
John , believe it or not, was not always the easiest person to be around. He definitely had his "moods". Matt was always impressed that I could call him on it and he usually would soften up. He and I also had some real disagreements- especially when he would get so down in his last months with the cancer. I would often hear him talking about wanting to die and would get upset with him stating that it was not yet "his time". One day he got so mad at me stating that 4 people-Matt, Eileen, the doctor and myself were making decisions for his medical care. Mostly this meant that he wanted to go on hospice and we did not feel it was time. He and I were hollering, crying, and before long we were hugging. I guess that my way of dealing with conflict influenced our interactions and more often than not we "grabbed the bull by the horns" and "got er done". I think he respected that about me and we always walked away shaking our heads but also knowing the other person cared.
John always got so mad at me for cooking too much. Anyone that knows me, knows I love to cook, especially for those I love. When John and Eileen would come for a visit I would do a whole spread, of course for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He would get upset that it was meal time already and say I made way too much food. However, he would eat nearly everything I put on his plate and of course had room for dessert too. John and Eileen's traditional eating schedule involved a big lunch meal and smaller dinner. We are more traditional with a big family dinner. I never could get the "big meal of the day" tradition down and overfed him with much chiding from him. I think he enjoyed every minute of it-teasing and the food too.
However, he let me be myself and loved me the way I am.
In his last few weeks, I loved the way he would hold onto the kids when they said goodbye, especially Tatum. I also enjoyed being the only adult that could fit on the bed with him. I would crawl up with him, give him sips of water, coffee, feed him ice cream and rub his head. He seldom flinched and just knew it was his crazy daughter-in-law trying to take care of him the best she could. One day just maybe 10 days before he passed he was not looking well, and all of a sudden he gave me the goofiest look right in my face. None of us that were there with him expected him to be joking around, but he still had a little of that John Humphrey in him I always felt so comfortable with, and we all laughed so hard.
I sure miss that! He will always be my second Pops! That cannot be replaced and will be sorely missed.
There are also the memories of his relationship with God. I will always treasure the family prayers. Of times "singing" grace and just hearing him sing. He had the best resonating bass voice.
I do want to say too that I have appreciated getting to know the Humphrey side of the family. I am now reading George, his Dad's autobiography. Uncle Lee, Uncle Eric, Laura, and the whole clan we love you and are so glad that all of this has brought us closer together. I am more proud than ever to call myself a "Humphrey". There are many aspects of this family that I now fully appreciate seeing John's roots, meeting the clan, etc. John was so proud last summer to send us back to Boston as his family's representative.
I also appreciate getting to know the Johnson/Jensen side of the family. Uncle Gordon, Aunt Maxine, Rodger, Lana and Lynette, thanks so much for coming to the Celebration. I too, am very impressed with this side of the family. I never considered I was a Johnson, but feel so loved and accepted by these folks that I can say I am also Johnson. Roots have always been important to me but now more than ever.
Another thing, I must say, is nowadays I look at Matt and see bits of John, mannerisms, attitudes and actions. I am glad to have a little of Pops here with us everyday. Matt and I both feel like being there with him in his last days was a blessing. I feel like it helped us finally "grow up". Do you believe his last night Matt and I actually slept together in a recliner by his bed?
More than all that I am so glad I know where he is now and that he is pain free, happy and without sadness. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that someday I will see him again. For this I am grateful to God for his gift of salvation through his son Jesus Christ.
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts today. It feels so good to walk down memory lane and remember who he was and try to imagine where he is today.
With much love and much to be grateful for!
Kerry Ann McFadden Humphrey
When Matt and I started dating in 1992 we knew pretty quickly that we were now involved in something more serious than our previous relationships. Thanksgiving that year, Matt took me to Dallas to meet his parents. I recall meeting John/Eileen and feeling quite comfortable with both of them. Two things I remember most were, Matt being so impressed with how John took to me, and John having this conversation with me about how I "must" be a runner. I guess he thought with my 95 lb. frame I would be fast and have an easy time running. Little did he know he was looking at his future daughter-in-law whom has never had an athletic bone in her body. That did this year influence my decision to train and run the St.George Marathon, however I was neither fast nor was it easy.
John and I had always been able to tease one another. There was an ease about being with him. Perhaps it was that we had our New England roots, or just that I usually was a daddy's girl and expected the same from him.
John , believe it or not, was not always the easiest person to be around. He definitely had his "moods". Matt was always impressed that I could call him on it and he usually would soften up. He and I also had some real disagreements- especially when he would get so down in his last months with the cancer. I would often hear him talking about wanting to die and would get upset with him stating that it was not yet "his time". One day he got so mad at me stating that 4 people-Matt, Eileen, the doctor and myself were making decisions for his medical care. Mostly this meant that he wanted to go on hospice and we did not feel it was time. He and I were hollering, crying, and before long we were hugging. I guess that my way of dealing with conflict influenced our interactions and more often than not we "grabbed the bull by the horns" and "got er done". I think he respected that about me and we always walked away shaking our heads but also knowing the other person cared.
John always got so mad at me for cooking too much. Anyone that knows me, knows I love to cook, especially for those I love. When John and Eileen would come for a visit I would do a whole spread, of course for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He would get upset that it was meal time already and say I made way too much food. However, he would eat nearly everything I put on his plate and of course had room for dessert too. John and Eileen's traditional eating schedule involved a big lunch meal and smaller dinner. We are more traditional with a big family dinner. I never could get the "big meal of the day" tradition down and overfed him with much chiding from him. I think he enjoyed every minute of it-teasing and the food too.
However, he let me be myself and loved me the way I am.
In his last few weeks, I loved the way he would hold onto the kids when they said goodbye, especially Tatum. I also enjoyed being the only adult that could fit on the bed with him. I would crawl up with him, give him sips of water, coffee, feed him ice cream and rub his head. He seldom flinched and just knew it was his crazy daughter-in-law trying to take care of him the best she could. One day just maybe 10 days before he passed he was not looking well, and all of a sudden he gave me the goofiest look right in my face. None of us that were there with him expected him to be joking around, but he still had a little of that John Humphrey in him I always felt so comfortable with, and we all laughed so hard.
I sure miss that! He will always be my second Pops! That cannot be replaced and will be sorely missed.
There are also the memories of his relationship with God. I will always treasure the family prayers. Of times "singing" grace and just hearing him sing. He had the best resonating bass voice.
I do want to say too that I have appreciated getting to know the Humphrey side of the family. I am now reading George, his Dad's autobiography. Uncle Lee, Uncle Eric, Laura, and the whole clan we love you and are so glad that all of this has brought us closer together. I am more proud than ever to call myself a "Humphrey". There are many aspects of this family that I now fully appreciate seeing John's roots, meeting the clan, etc. John was so proud last summer to send us back to Boston as his family's representative.
I also appreciate getting to know the Johnson/Jensen side of the family. Uncle Gordon, Aunt Maxine, Rodger, Lana and Lynette, thanks so much for coming to the Celebration. I too, am very impressed with this side of the family. I never considered I was a Johnson, but feel so loved and accepted by these folks that I can say I am also Johnson. Roots have always been important to me but now more than ever.
Another thing, I must say, is nowadays I look at Matt and see bits of John, mannerisms, attitudes and actions. I am glad to have a little of Pops here with us everyday. Matt and I both feel like being there with him in his last days was a blessing. I feel like it helped us finally "grow up". Do you believe his last night Matt and I actually slept together in a recliner by his bed?
More than all that I am so glad I know where he is now and that he is pain free, happy and without sadness. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that someday I will see him again. For this I am grateful to God for his gift of salvation through his son Jesus Christ.
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts today. It feels so good to walk down memory lane and remember who he was and try to imagine where he is today.
With much love and much to be grateful for!
Kerry Ann McFadden Humphrey
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