Ugly Giant Grasshopper

This is an example of the ugly bugs that get dragged into my house. I stumble onto them in a bug box or make shift one... near my computer, on the kitchen counter or my bedside table. Lovely! This one isn't even full grown. This year when they all came out of their nests... a cloud of baby grasshoppers... I had the kids out there stomping on them. And I am NOT one for killing defenseless creatures but these things are born enmass and they grown to be giants and eat all the foliage off the plants around the house. And they are so much less messy to kill when they are tiny. Please don't think badly of me. =)

A Wish Plant

Last night we attended the visitation and memorial service for Roy. There were so many people there from the community; from the Civitans and the Photography Club, from First Baptist Church, the Gautier Library and the community college. He certainly touched a lot of lives and he will be missed by many.

Cullen had drawn a picture with pencil of he and Papa Roy hunting for grasshoppers. He wanted it to go with Papa Roy in his casket. So he and Grandmommy placed it there together. Cullen has had a very hard time with Papa Roy's death. Its a shattering of his innocence. His happy, secure life is not so secure now. He thinks something bad is going to happen and is afraid when the dogs bark fearing there are robbers outside. When he has to say goodbye to grandmommy to go home he gets almost panicked... crying in the car cause he did not get one last hug. I think it is from the suddenness of Papa Roy's departing... there was no one last time to spend with him. He cried to me the night we got home from Alabama after Roy had died that he did not get to say goodbye. I reminded him that when he was in Papa Roy's hospital room Aunt Elysa said to Roy, "Papa Roy, Cullen is here." and Papa Roy nodded "He wants you to know that he loves you." and Papa Roy nodded again.

At the Memorial service, Cullen and I were then looking at all the plants and flowers that had been sent. I was reading the cards to him and telling him about the plants. There was a large Peace Lily there that was in bloom. "People send Peace Lilies because when people die, they are at peace." I told him. He said "I wish there were Wish plants so we could get Papa Roy back."

So do I honey.

Keeping Papa Roy Alive

We lost Papa Roy this week and its so hard to say goodbye. Seeing his face in this picture or in my mind makes me weep. I see him in his son's face or glancing at a man walking across the parking lot. I know its cause I long to see him again, that I can not believe he is gone. I cry as I type. I cry as I drive. I cry looking at his empty chair. I know there will be a time when I only have smiles for his memory but that time seems so far away.

Hearts get old and bodies get fragile. But Roy's spirit was always strong. A friend said to me that Roy was an amazing person, he always lived with passion pursuing the things that he loved. That is so so true. He loved nature and spent a good deal of time teaching Cullen to love it too. Nature walks and hunting bugs were always a highlight of time spent with Papa Roy. You could always find them snuggled up on Roy's chair reading a book about bugs or snakes or such.

I now spend my time fearful of the closed hand wielding some nasty creature or digging in the refrigerator for the perfect snack for a gigantic grasshopper. Papa Roy always laughed at the monster he had created.