Glorious Spring!

I am NOWHERE near being the blogger that Missy is. She is pretty good about writing on hers every week. Weeks go by & I FINALLY get around to updating mine. That doesn't make my blog as compelling to read. My mom & I check Missy's just about every day to see what's new! I don't have 3 adorable children to write about, though. Well, I DO have 3 beautiful daughters, but I don't get to see them often enough to have something to write about very frequently!

When I wrote last, my dad had just gone to Heaven. All of the family was able to get down to the Orlando area for Daddy's memorial service. I appreciated the girls making the efforts to get there. It was a bittersweet time as we remembered my dad's life. Making it even more special was that recordings of my dad singing were played at the service, so he sang at his own funeral!





Last month, I met up with my mom, brother & family in Sparta, NC. We stayed in a lovely restored farmhouse not far from where my parents lived for 10 years after retiring from the Ft. Lauderdale area.



We had a second memorial service @ the church where Daddy & Mother were members in their years in Sparta on what would've been Daddy's 78th birthday. We scattered his ashes in a creek near the property where he & Mother lived. His earthly remains returned to "The Lord's Mountain!"





He's been gone from this life for nearly 3 months now & I miss him a lot, but I'd sure never wish him back. He's free from his wheelchair and illness! Even better, he's with the Lord!

Mother is doing well. She misses her husband of 58 years, of course, and she has her down times. She's keeping busy and finding people to minister to. Her little dog, Rosie, is her little companion and Rick, Debbi and Aaron are only 5 minutes away.



I've certainly been enjoying the Spring after the long, hard Winter. I love all of the sights, sounds, smells & feel of this beautiful season of new life. Doggie Danny loves it outside, too. Spring makes me think of the beauty of new life after apparent death...especially appropriate after "losing" my dad though knowing that I'll see him again one day in a new body!





Since our family is so spread out, times together are extra special. We've had a few of those in the past couple of months. A month & 1/2 ago, Rick & I stopped by Nashville on our way to Augusta. We spent an evening with Paul & Katie on the beautiful campus of Belmont University. It was a brief stop, but it's nice to spend whatever time that we can with our girls.





We traveled on to Augusta to spend a few days with Becky. She had gotten tickets to attend a day of practice rounds @ the Masters golf tournament. Missy's husband, Paul, and his dad, Lewis, went in with Becky & me and we walked all 18 holes of the course. It's gorgeous there.



In the afternoon, Becky went back so Rick could go in for a while.



While we were in Augusta, we celebrated Becky's birthday and saw the house that she was buying. She just moved in this past weekend.





Earlier this month, Katie drove up here to Ft. Wayne to spend a long weekend with us. She & I went to the annual Vera Bradley outlet sale, went shopping and sewed a pillow for her living room. She was able to go to church with us and hear her dad preach before heading back to Nashville to deal with the flooding in that area.





So, we have been blessed with some together times recently, some happy, some sad. More often than not, we have to depend on the phone & Skype to keep in touch. We cherish those times...


Malissa, Katie & Danny, chatting with granddaughter, Aimee, on Skype

Richard Haber Moore, April 17, 1932-February 21, 2010

My dad went to Heaven to live there forever with his Savior this afternoon. It was sad to me that he passed away on my mom's birthday, but she was just so thankful that he's no longer suffering. He has a new body & is singing praises to God!

In retrospect, it's special that we celebrated her birthday early when Becky & I were there, because Daddy was able to be there. The Lord is good!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

My dad

I've been thinking for months that I'm way overdue in posting on my blog. So much has happened since the last time I wrote. Rick & I went to NC in October for the 50th anniversary of our former church in Midway. Then, in November, we went to back to NC for the dedication of the new Corporate Chaplains of America Headquarters in Wake Forest. In early December, I flew to Pensacola, FL to be there for the birth of our 3rd grandchild & 1st grandson. Luke Franklin von Herrmann was born on Dec. 9th & weighed 7# 4 oz, the same size as his mother, Missy!





Then, I went back to FL with Rick to spend Christmas with all of our girls & their families. It was the 1st time that we hadn't hosted Christmas @ our house, but it was great to get away from the cold & snow of Indiana! It was no sacrifice to spend Christmas in Florida with our girls!!!



Becky & I recently got back from a trip to the Orlando, FL area to visit with my parents, as well as my brother & his family. We also made a day trip down to where we used to live in Port Charlotte to visit with friends while we were in FL. Becky hadn't seen her grandparents in nearly 4 years, though I've been able to get down for a visit every year since they've been down there. It was short of a miracle that Becky & I were able to arrange our work schedules to make this trip without taking any time off from work.

2/9/10 Me with the birthday girl

While we were there, we celebrated my mom's birthday. She's turning 80 tomorrow though she doesn't look it. I have good genes!

2/9/10 The original 4 Moores

Thursday, my dad had cataract surgery on one of his eyes. It should have been a minor surgery, but it seems that it was just enough to adversely affect his fragile condition, because he wound up in ICU & on a ventilator with what they think was a stroke. In 2006, he had surgery for a benign brain tumor and he had a spinal stroke which left him paralyzed from the waist down. My nurse mom has been taking excellent care of him for these past few years. An MRI showed that he has another brain tumor growing and that he's been having small strokes for some time. He's had a heart condition for many years, too, having coronary artery bypass surgery in 2004, so it's a blessing that we've had him as long as we have. It doesn't look like he will pull through this time, but we know where he'll be going when his time comes. He'll be joining that great cloud of witnesses in Heaven and waiting for the rest of the family there.

2/6/10 Daddy reading his Bible

Becky and I are so thankful that we were able to go to FL when we did. We see it as God's perfect timing. The memories that we made when we were there are precious.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I've been thinking these past few days of many thoughts of my dad. Daddy was a faithful worker, in the various jobs that he had as well as in the church. He was a faithful husband for 58 years, quite an example in this day & time. He & my mom were always at our activities as well as our girls', often making long trips to be there. He took one or 2 of our girls to college in Nyack, NY more than once & carried their stuff up flights of stairs! He was one of my favorite ones to sing with & I no doubt take after him in my love of singing. I was thankful to get to hear him sing one more time in his Sunday School class when we were there 2 weeks ago.

2/7/10 Daddy practicing his solo

Daddy was always good with numbers & had a memory for them that I don't have. He was still balancing the checkbook even after brain surgery! He had a corny sense of humor that I've missed these past few years, but I have a wonderful memory of seeing him really laugh when we were there. I realize how blessed I have been to have my dad all these years.

February, 2009

My dad was born & raised in NY and my mom in NJ. They met while my mom was in nursing school. Daddy's sister was in Mother's class & introduced them. He was 2 years younger, but they started dating and "the rest is history." He was in the Air Force and I was born in Panama City, FL at Tyndall Air Force Hospital. When he got out, we moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, to be near my grandparents who'd moved down there. That's where they lived until they retired in 1995 & moved to Sparta, NC, for about 10 years. They loved it up there, but they wound up moving to Orlando near my brother, Rick, when Daddy's health made it impossible to stay in the mountains, especially in the winter.

April, 2005, in Sparta

Mother has just been thankful to be able to take care of him in the home & not have to leave him in a nursing home, as he was for a few months after his brain surgery. She has truly been an example to me of one who has kept her wedding vows. Please keep her in your prayers as she faces losing her Valentine of over 58 years. Actually, she told me this evening that she won't be "losing" him since she knows where he'll be!

In Sunday School, 2/7/10

End of Summer Events

I'm nowhere near the writer that Missy is. Months go by & I haven't written. There probably isn't as much for me to say as a mom with 2 busy girls and a BABY BOY on the way does! But, there have been some fun events since I wrote last, so I wanted to share them with you.



At the end of July, I went to Nashville for a long weekend to visit Paul & Katie. It was my 1st time to visit them there since they got married in November. Katie continues as Residence Director (Dorm Mom) for 105 freshman women in Heron Hall @ Belmont University. I went to visit Katie so we could work on a sewing project. She had gotten a pattern & cut it out earlier when Paul's mom, Frances, was there and I was trying to teach her how to sew on a new sewing machine that she had gotten. We didn't finish the dress before I had to return home, so I'm planning to go back at the end of October to hopefully do that.



August 2nd was Rick's & my 34th anniversary. It fell on a Sunday this year. It was a good time to reflect on all that the Lord has done in our lives.



Planning was also underway to celebrate Rick's 60th birthday on September 13th. The girls surprised Rick with a book & videos of remembrance and a visit from Becky, Paulie & Katie. We managed to pull it off without him knowing that they were coming. He was genuinely surprised and it was a special weekend. We were able to include Missy in the festivities via Skype.



This past weekend, I went to St. Louis with 7 ladies from our church. We went to the Joyce Meyer Women's Conference and it was really good. I have heard Joyce Meyer on TV, but I didn't realize how much her ministry does overseas. It was good getting to know the ladies from church better.



Our next trip will be at the end of next week as we go to NC. It will be the 50th anniversary of our former church in Winston-Salem (Midway), Faith Missionary Alliance Church. Rick will be preaching one night. It'll be good to see lots of old friends. Maybe I'll see some of you then!



Today I pulled out the last droopy giant sunflowers that I had planted in May. It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord put in that one little seed all that is needed to make a huge plant grow that yields so many other seeds. God is so Creative!

Granddaughters running in FL

Roadtrip to visit the Big & Little Girls

Since our family is so spread out, our vacation time can only be spent going to see them whenever we can. So, we took off Sunday, July 5th and traveled the 14 hours to Pace, FL (near Pensacola) where Paul, Missy, Ellie and Aimee live. Paul & Katie had gone down from Nashville to attend a wedding and spend time with the von Herrmanns for about a week, so we got to overlap and see them for a couple of days, too.



We were there 3 full days and enjoyed being with the little girls so much. Having the ability to see & talk to them on Skype helps a lot, but there's no substitute for hands on time. Of course, it was great being with Paul & Missy and Paul & Katie, too, but they don't grow as fast!







I'm so thankful that we have such a loving family that enjoys being together. We dream of a time when we'll live closer together.

Missy, 17 weeks along with Baby #3, and Keturah (Katie) with Mom

On Thursday last week, we took off on an 8 hour trip to visit with Becky in Augusta, GA. We hadn't been to Augusta in a couple of years, so it was high time that we made the trip. We got to spend some time with Becky, who'd returned from her 2 weeks medical missions trip to Trinidad less than 2 weeks before. She and her 2 sister housemates are moving from their rental house to a home that one of them has bought next weekend, so it's a transition time.



Last Saturday, we traveled the 12 hours back to Ft. Wayne from Augusta. It was a whirlwind trip and the time together went by much too quickly, but I'm thankful for the Lord's protection and the opportunity to go. I'm also thankful that Rick's mom was OK here while we were gone; she just can't make a trip like that, though I wish she could've seen everybody. I was apprehensive about leaving Danny in the kennel for the first time. He was a rescue dog and I didn't want him to feel neglected again, but he survived just fine. So, the trip went well, we're enjoying the beautiful weather while it lasts and we're back to work where the Lord has us for now.

Swan family crossing the road to look for bread in our yard

It's interesting that swans are so graceful on the water but walk like Godzilla on the land. I don't get too close to them, either, because they are very aggressive. I enjoy watching them anyway!