Empty Shoes

A pair of shoes bespecked with clay
     sit idly by the door,
Their owner's feet will not be back
     to fill the empty toe,
Uganda's paths and rocky slopes
    the stick hut's earthen floor,
And North Carolina's sandy soil
    they'll travel nevermore.

These shoes are big, for big the man
     whom they were fitted for;
Not big in stature, but by God's grace
    a man of character.
A leader strong who stood for right,
    if need be e'en alone,
Our father, friend, our confident,
   lest Satan get us down.

These shoes have creases in the toes
   from being bent in prayer,
On bended knee by night or day,
   good chance you'd find him there.
The list was long with many names
   of folks who need the Lord.
You see, these where his fighting shoes--
   God's trusted warrior.

These shoes were trained to push the gas
    no more than 55,
And trained to brake and fully stop,
   at stop-sign on the drive.
"Obey the laws," he drilled us hard;
   and by example showed
That tardiness is no excuse
   to make up on the road.

These well worn shoes have work to do,
   the feet have gone to heav'n.
Shall we just let them by the door
   and leave the work forsaken?
Or shall we try them on our feet,
   however big they be,
And carry on as best we can. . .
   until eternity?
                                                    --Wes Miller

This poem was written by one of my nephews after his father's death.
My oldest brother, Marion, died on Sunday, July 20, 2008.

They came. . .     We played. . .    They left. . .

Oldest son and his lovely family came on the hottest weekend of the spring. We enjoyed having them here soooo much and I missed them when they left. I wanted to find things to do that would be enjoyable for all of us and I think we succeeded for the most part.

They arrived Saturday afternoon too late to participate in the GMS spring festival but I had purchased some of Sim's bar-b-qued chicken so we had that for the evening meal. It was quite tasty--especially after a long day of travel (for them) and working at the festival (for us). We were so grateful for air conditioning in our home and in our vehicles.

On Sunday we spent a good part of the afternoon with our small group at Yutzy's. There is lots to do at that house and there were other children for the grandkids to play with.

Monday my niece, "Wallyswife", called to suggest that we meet at Chick Filet in Camden for lunch so we could visit and the children could play in the indoor, air conditioned play ground. It was an excellent suggestion--we all enjoyed it a lot! (Thanks, Mona) Kaleb came to stay at grandpa's house, too. The girls were delighted to see him and have him around.

Earlier this year we had taken Kaleb to the Ryan and Friends program and he loved it. He wanted to purchase the DVD but he didn't have $20. Without him finding out I had ordered one a couple weeks later and I saved it for movie night at grandma's house. We all watched it on Monday evening. 

Tuesday we made our traditional trek to the beach and then stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner. It was a fun way to cool off.

We went to the Greenwood Library for a kids program on insects on Wednesday morning. We stopped at school on the way home so Abby and Grace could practice piano. They also had a chance to play on the playground. Wednesday evening we were back at the Yutzy's for pie, coffee and stuff. Again there was plenty to do and people to play with and talk to. It was a good way for the Hoosiers to reconnect with the Blue Hens.

Thursday grandpa and grandma took the four grandkids to the Salisbury Zoo so oldest son and his bride of 12 years could go on a date. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch on the way. . .they went to The Georgia House in Millsboro. When we got to the zoo I gathered the grandkids together and said we need to have some rules in place before we go into the zoo. I asked if they had any suggestions and right off the bat Kaleb said, "No kissing!"  I understand that his girl cousins would randomly give him a kiss and he had had enough. (We had a brief discussion about respecting other's wishes, and they agreed to not kiss him in public! ) It was quite warm but the kids had fun anyway. The biggest disappointment was that they couldn't go into the reptile house--it was closed. For some reason that I couldn't quite figure out, some thought it was my fault! On the way home we stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream and a chance to cool down a bit.

All too soon Friday morning arrived and after breakfast the out of state visitors headed home and we were left with a much quieter house. Kaleb stayed with us another week so we weren't completely bereft of grandkids.

Since we are grandparents and not parents we forgot to take our camera. Grandpa did take a picture or two with his phone camera. I will post one of the kids sitting on the wall. I have pictures of my own kids at this same area of the zoo.

Until later. . .

Dwight Loren Miller

My youngest son is now twenty-two years old.  (where have the years gone?..........it seems he should still be a teenager!) Dwight has been an interesting addition to our family. We love him and miss him when he isn't around.  When he was little he could keep us all entertained.  Somehow over the years he has lost a lot of his "little boy" innocence and has made choices that have taken him down a different path than we had hoped. He currently is working for M & M Event parking. He seems to be doing a creditable job for them and they have given him more responsibility. If you go to NASCAR races anywhere in the East or in Phoenix you just might see him or his coworkers.  

I have carried this first grade picture of him in my Bible for a long time. Each time I see it, I am reminded that no matter how much I love him and wish the best for him, God wants that even more. I am convinced that God has a purpose for Dwight--I pray that he will find it soon!!    

(my apologies if this is too big--I am not very knowledgable about such things)

                                   A tribute to my sister, Mary Lou.

Today is Mary Lou's birthday. She was almost nine years old when I was born so I don't remember life without her. She is the third born of 12 children. She grew up to be our mother's right hand helper. She started cooking at an early age--perhaps about the time I was born--and she became the seamstress the rest of us wished we could be. When we were young, people would often comment about how much we looked alike. (I don't hear it so much anymore--now people say how much my sister Ruth and I look alike.) One time someone who knew us both commented to my mother that I was looking more and more like Mary Lou only to find out that she was looking at Mary Lou! She hadn't realized that my sister was in the area visiting.

Mary Lou is a nurse (she still works part time). She first was an LPN, then an RN and later got her masters degree in nursing. She is the most educated one in our family. After she was an RN and before she got her masters, she married Dirk, a widower. who had three young children. They added two more children to their family but the youngest, Dirk Allen, was killed at the young age of 18 months.

Mary Lou has had many situations in her life that would have caused a less committed person to give up and walk away, but she has stood by her family and has ministered to their needs unselfishly. I admire her faithfulness, her patience and her tenacity. I would do well to take lessons from her.

I hope your day was a good one, Mary Lou, and that this upcoming year will be a year of blessings.

I love you,
Loretta

Today is son Rodney's birthday.
He needed to get his driver's license renewed this year because he is 31. Robert and I both needed to get our's renewed this year, as well, so I knew that they are wanting to see a birth certificate as proof of citizenship. (I didn't know it before I went to renew mine so I haven't proven anything yet!) We aren't sure where Rodney's certificate is filed so last night I was looking through some old files trying to locate it. I never did find it, but the one file had lots of things in it that I haven't looked at in years--things I had tucked away over the years to help me remember. . .One of the items was a print out of e-mails friends of ours had sent to oldest son (in college) and aunt (in Ukraine) when Rodney was involved in a fairly serious accident in February of '96. We didn't have an e-mail account at that time so we depended on them to make the contacts that couldn't be easily made by phone. Reading their account of what happened brought back many memories for me and reminded me of how blessed we were and are as a family to have Rodney alive and well today. At the time of the accident I remember saying that his injuries weren't so much life threatening as life changing. He is fortunate that his injuries did not leave long term problems except for his missing teeth. He was not able to get used to the dentures they fitted him with about a year after the accident. By then, he was so used to not having his teeth by then that he just gave up and decided to do without. I'm sure that decision has affected him in ways that he still doesn't know or understand, but it is now history.
 
So I just want to say
"Happy Birthday, Rodney!" 
I'm so happy to have you as my second son.
I don't even want to imagine what life would be like without you.
MOM