Brief Update to Our Friends

This is Jim writing.

This has been a difficult year. We knew that one day we would lose Dad, but you are never prepared for death. We loved him dearly and miss him so much.

Update on Dad’s House

I am in the final stages of settling Dad’s estate as the Executor. Also we have had an estate sale and the house has been readied for sale. It is now on the market. It very sad to go through this process. Sometimes I felt like I was destroying the things he loved. It had to be done. While many of the physical things have been removed, no one can destroy the memories of Dad and all the things he enjoyed in this life.

Mary and Prince
Beverly and I saw Mary & Prince last weekend. It looks like both of them have grown accustomed to their new apartment life. Also, we took Mary to her doctor appointment at Vanderbilt a few weeks ago and she got a good report. 

Dad’s Blog
We are going to keep Dad’s Tomato Garden blog active. Mary and I will try to make a post from time to time to give you an update on what is happening in our little world.

Dad’s Book
His first printing is almost sold out. Only a few copies are available. Our friend who wrote the book for Dad will be taking over future orders and making decisions about a second printing.

Another Update

I have been negligent in posting on Dad’s blog as well as my own, but thanks for dropping in to check on things.

Mary is all settled in a senior living apartment. It is very nice and I think it will be a good place for her. She lives there with Prince and enjoys his company very much. A pet is wonderful therapy as well as a great companion.

We had an estate sale at Dad’s home last weekend on Friday and Saturday. We sold lot of things, and were happy to see them go on to be used again. Many came buy just to buy something that Dad had owned in his house. It was sad on many different levels. We still have things that did not sell that we plan to donate to charity within the next few weeks.

As many of you know, last Sunday was Dad’s birthday (September 2). Dad would have been 99 years old. We are disappointed that he did not make it 99 and many more years. We are glad he had such a good state of health up to the very end of his life. He is sorely missed. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of something I want to tell him or ask him.

Here’s a picture of Dad when he was working on his blog. He was always looking for something interesting to post.

Up and Coming
We have met with a realtor and she is now evaluating the property for value. We also have a home improvement expert looking at the property to see what might need to be done to promote the sale of the property. Then will make some decisions like selling as-is or with improvements.

We also have our church convention coming up at the end of this month. Dad always looked so forward to going over to the farm and attending the 4 days of spiritual help. I would help him get his golf cart over to the farm to use during those four days. It was very helpful to him and others. We will certainly miss Dad a lot during those four days.

All else is going pretty good. I feel a heavy burden on my shoulders right now as I work to get the estate settled, the house sold, and taking care of things around my own home. This shall pass and there will be brighter days.

Let’s Cheer Up
I’m a little down but I purpose to cheer up. As Dad used to say, “Someone said cheer up, things could be worse. So I cheered up, and sure enough things got worse.” He would have a big smile when he said that.

Dad would have a word of encouragement for all of us. Often he would tell us to “Hang in there.”

~by Jim

 

A Short Message to all of Our Friends

This is Jim writing again. We just returned a short while ago from our Wednesday night Bible Study. We had Matthew, Chapter 10. It’s a good chapter.

Beverly and I were in Knoxville from Sunday through Tuesday this week working on the home place. We’re hoping to have a yard/garage sale soon to provide new homes to many of the household goods. At the present time we are targeting to do this on Friday and Saturday, August 31 and September 1.

It’s sad in so many ways… and we must be selling the house also. We’re hoping to get it on the market this fall.

Dad’s Tomato Garden
Dad’s tomato garden is really doing good this year. He would be so proud of the big, ripe and delicious tomatoes it is producing. We picked a few more on Tuesday before we left to come back to Kingsport. Just look at them…

I hope you are smiling. Dad would like that.

On This Day A Boy is Born

Mandy and Alex Rogers today celebrate the birth of their new baby boy, Atley James Rogers.

This is Jim (Tennessee Granddaddy) writing in Dad’s blog. Mandy is my granddaughter and today it makes Beverly and me GREAT grandparents. (Earlier this year I mentioned that we would become great grandparents to Mandy. She looked at us and sweetly told me that we were already “great” grandparents.)

Dad would be proud and smiling if he were alive today because this would of made five generations living.

You can read more about Atley and see some pictures at my website: http://tennesseegrandaddy.blogspot.com/

 

Dad’s Fountains
I have set up one of Dad’s fountains in my backyard just off the patio. It is so nice to sit out there and hear the water running and watch the birds enjoy the water. It will be a continuing reminder of Dad and his love for the birds and wildlife. I have also been giving some thought to getting my place certified as a wildlife habitat like Dad’s residence.

Nice Ripe Tomatoes

Yesterday at Dad’s Place (Jim is writing)
We picked tomatoes from Dad’s tomato garden yesterday. The recent rains and hot weather have helped their growth. The plants and the fruit are both beautiful. The tomatoes are also delicious! Here’s a couple of pictures:

I mention on my blog, “Dad would be smiling”. Someone corrected me to say, “Dad IS  smiling”.

Dad’s Book
The 1st printing of the books are almost gone. I have about 5 copies left to sell. If you want one, please let me know soon. First come first serve.

~~~

We continue to work on emptying the house. We plan a sale of household items sometime in the next 6-8 weeks. We hope to get the house on the market sometime this fall. It continues to be an emotional challenge.

We loved Dad. We miss him. Life goes on. We have wonderful memories, and so much to be thankful for.

A Couple of Pictures

I thought of Dad when I took this picture a few weeks ago. He really enjoyed the beauty of the heavens above.

An Old Shovel
Kevin helped us last week to go through some of Dad’s belonging in his out building. I wanted to share an interesting shovel that we found.

Do you see the wooden handle that made out of one piece of wood. Interesting, huh? I have some more pictures on Tennessee Granddaddy’s site.

Dad’s Tomato Garden Flourishes

Hello everyone! It’s Jim again. I wanted to share a few pictures from Dad’s Garden that I took on 6/29/12.

As you can see the garden is doing really well. We’re trying to keep it watered but not doing as good a job as Dad would I am sure.

We’ve been going through the house and making decisions about what to keep, what to sell, and what to throw away. This is very difficult for me. I went through Dad’s room last week, and the memories really got to me. Not only of Dad, but I found things of my Mothers that he had kept. Also I found things that reminded me of my son Greg, who we lost in 1983. I worked and cried.

As Dad would say, “Time is precious, do not waste it.”