Finally Bloggin again!

Wow!  It has been since the end of June since I did any blogging.  We have had some unfortunate extended family issues over the past few months that have made blogging not as important.  About two weeks after our family reunion (my last post before today), my Aunt Judy became very sick.  She is one of my dad's sisters.  The middle child to be exact.  After some strange symptoms, she and my Uncle Freddie decided to check things out.  A brain tumor was discovered.  By the time it was found, it was already 2 inches into her brain.  Her family was told there was nothing the doctors could do for her and she only had about 3 months to live.  The 6 1/2 weeks she actually had remaining proved to be a very poor quality of life for her.

My Aunt Judy passed away on Friday, September 17, 2010.  6 days before her 67th birthday.  She left behind her devoted husband Freddie, her three wonderful children . . . Shawn, Michelle and Bradley and 4 sweet grandchildren . . . Cameron, Nathan, Emma and Addison.  At the funeral, I was honored to be able to say a few words about her.  It has all been very surreal and I still expect to see her at the next reunion.  She will be greatly missed!

Her life is now in heaven, but her spirit lives on.  She was a wonderful person who loved, laughed and lived a full life.  She always told me how much she enjoyed reading my blogs and I will miss sharing them with her.  Judith Marie Leftwich Storz . . . I love you lots and will remember you always.

Family Tree

My Grandma and Granddaddy Leftwich had three children. My Granndaddy passed away almost 11 years ago now and unfortunately never met our kids. My Grandma Leftwich is still living, but is into the later stages of Dementia/Alzheimer’s. Emily Katherine (our Emily) is her namesake. My Grandmother’s name is Ruby Katherine. Their three children included my dad, P.D., and his two younger sisters. His sister, Judy is 3 years younger than he is and his sister, Kathy is about 11 years younger than he is. They each have children. Kathy has two children, Kristi and Brett, who each have two children. Judy has three children. Shawn, Michelle and Bradley. Shawn has two children, Bradley is recently engaged, but no children yet. Michelle just had two children—twins in our family again!—They apparently do run in our family after all. We stopped to see Michelle, her husband Joe and their three month old daughters, Addison and Emma on our way home from the beach. And, to our pleasant surprise, our Aunt Judy (Michelle’s Mom) was there too. Though the girls tend to favor their mother, you can see facial features and expressions that are dead on their dad. They are both beautiful girls! My children were privileged to be able to take a picture with their new second cousins. In that picture they are as follows . . . L to R-Emily, Emma, Ryan, Addison and Lydia. The other picture is the proud mommy, my beautiful cousin Michelle, with Emma and Addison. Congrats Michelle and Joe—having twins is the greatest amusement park ride of chaos and destruction you will ever be honored to ride every day of your life.