Family!

We have had an unusual set of circumstances this past week/week and a half. We ended up finding a fantastic family for our dog, Lincoln, to live with. I suppose he's having a great time - 4 kids and 5 acres of land. Wow! Our cat, Tony, was going back home to live on Lakes Blvd. with all the neighbors... he jumped out of the car before we made it home. No joke... we were on Whitfield and he JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR. I've never seen a cat do that. Hopefully, he's fine and he found his way back home!

We were on our way back to Starkville this weekend to get our home ready for an open house this weekend. It was going very well - we got to go out to see our friends on Saturday night and spend time at our home (just the three of us...).

Chip got a call Sat. night (late) that his aunt Jessie was diagnosed with breast cancer and the doctors had given her 48 hrs and sent her home with hospice care. Chip and I got up early Sunday morning and cleaned the house, hoping to get out of town and see his aunt before she passed. Chip got a call on Sunday morning from his mom that she'd passed in the night on Saturday. It was very quick.

The visitation was Monday and the funeral was on Tuesday (today). We got to go by his aunt Jessie's home on Monday morning and look at some of her personal "stuff". His aunt was 75 and she was very attached to her family. She kept any and all newspaper clippings from all of her family. We found a lot of stuff about Chip's dad at her home (in and amongst all kind of other family records). It was very cool to find such unique things that Chip didn't even know existed. What a nice surprise! We have a yearbook from the school he was teaching at when he passed, pictures from his high school days, and his bible from college with some personal notes written in. It is very very neat and I know Chip is so pleased to have all of those things now. His aunt Jessie was very special to him. She opened up her home and her heart to him and she rejoiced in his happiness just like a parent/grandparent would. She was very special to me, as well. I did not know her for very long, but she was always so kind and welcoming. She loved unconditionally and it didn't matter to her where you came from, what you were, or who you were - if you were part of the family, she loved you. She really got a lot of joy out of Josephine also and she saw Chip's dad in Jo - which was very special to me. I know that Jo brings a lot of happiness to Chip's "Frazier" side of the family. She DOES have a lot of facial expressions and mannerisms that are very like her "Grandpa Glynn". Nature vs. Nurture??? Nature... definitely in THIS case! :)

We were very lucky to have this time to go down to Meridian and see Chip's family. Jo LOVED spending time with her Mamaw, Papaw, and great-Grandma. She had a great time taking them around on walks. She also got to see her aunts and uncles and her cousin Davis. Family is a wonderful thing and I'm so thankful that Jo has so many loving relatives. We couldn't be more blessed! :)