Our Family Site: July 2007

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

A Post From the Heart...

Last week was one of the hardest weeks I've ever had in my adult life. We grieved and celebrated the lives of two wonderful men. One whom I've known my entire life, and the other whom I was only priviledged to know for four years. Russell Smith, grandfather to my best friend Marisha, died a week ago last Sunday morning at the age of 84 from cancer. I spent half of my childhood at Marisha's house in Auburn, AL. We grew up together and even though we were two years apart in age, we were thick as mud. We have pictures of us together in the same crib!! Thick as thieves we are! Mr. Russell was a figure who visited often and it seemed he was always treating me as one of his grandchildren. He was diagnosed with cancer right after we returned from China with Grace. I took them meals, but didn't take Grace with me a lot because he was very weak. She painted him beautiful pictures of orange and blue, sat in his lap where he would give her hershey's kisses to her hearts delight. She even rang out in a chorus of War Eagle! every time she saw him. He always told Brandon and I how proud he was of what we had done in adopting Grace even though we saw ourselves as the ones who were blessed. He was very quick to tell you what he thought although very careful in how he told it. He was a soldier who fought in the battle of the bulge, a loving father, an adoring husband, and a spoiling grandfather and greatfather. He loved his family, his country, his church, and most of all his God. What a legacy he has left! We will miss him dearly. Linnes Melton Waldrep, father to Phil Waldrep who is friends of mine and Brandon's, passed away Monday afternoon in his home. Grace and I ate breakfast with Pa-Paw Linnes every Monday morning at Chick-fil-A. She would eat her chicken mini's and then he would promptly bye her icecream at 8:15 in the morning! It drove me crazy, but it made his day! His favorite thing to say to Grace was, "Tell that man who I am" and Grace would proudly proclaim, "Pa-Paw Innes". He loved her like his own grandchildren and she loved him more than words can express. She doesn't think we can go to Chick-fil-A without seeing him. She sees the sign and says, "Pa-Paw!" We were suppose to eat breakfast with Linnes last Monday. We couldn't go so we met him the previous Friday. He wanted to buy her icecream and I wouldn't let him. Oh how I wish I had!!!! That Monday afternoon his wife came home and found him dead in their kitchen floor. That morning he had breakfast with his grandchildren and gone to the hospital to pray with a sick friend. What a way to leave this earth! It was later determined he had died from a massive heart attack. At the funeral home, Phil said Linnes had three pictures in his wallet. One of Maegan, one of Melodi (his two grandchildren) and one of Grace. Chick-fil-A retired his chair and served his breakfast at his normal place the day after he died. This is not a verse I would probably normally think of in this situation but it seems to fit these two men. Genesis 6:4 says, "In those days and even afterward, there were giants in the land." These two men were giants. Giants to their communities, their churches, their families, and their friends. Giants to me, and giants to my child. I can only thank God everyday for the honor of knowing them. I always want to remind Grace of their love for God and for her. And now that I think about it, it's okay to eat icecream at 8:15 in the morning.

Grace with Pa-Paw Linnes. She was taking his picture with an old digital camera. I can't seem to find a picture of Grace with Mr. Smith. I know I have one somewhere I just haven't located it yet.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Coming Soon...

There is a new blog design and beach pictures coming soon!!!!!!!

Second update from Iraq...

I just want to thank everyone so much for keeping Jim and Toni in your prayers! Here is Jim's second update. We received it awhile back-I'm just now posting it. Hopefully, we will receive another update soon! We haven't heard anything in awhile! Hopefully, we'll get some pics of him soon as well!!! Here's Jim... Well, this is the first time I've been on a computer in a while. The last couple of weeks have been very busy. Thank you to everyone for the e-mails you've sent. I have a new home now in Tallil, Iraq. The last time I wrote I was in Camp Buehring, Kuwait. We did some convoy training there and then caught a C-130 out of Ali Al Salem to Tallil. When we got to Tallil, the First Sergeant picked us up and took us to "tent city" where we stayed for a few hours while we got some much needed sleep. That afternoon we were taken to our new trailer-type rooms where we have been since. The rooms are about 10'x10' and have two beds and two wall lockers in them. They are also equipped with AC, which is nice. I was put into a room with the other sergeant that I have been with for a while. He is an alright guy, if you can look past the snoring, which I think you can probably hear back in the States. We were able to buy a small TV and DVD player from a guy on his way home and we get a few channels on Armed Forces Network that show a little of everything. Overall, the rooms are ok and should make for a more comfortable time here. The company I was supposed to be a part of, the 731st, had enough people so I went to C-2/142FA, otherwise known as Charlie Battery. They are a National Guard field artillery unit from Ozark, Arkansas. They fall into the same battalion as the 731st and are also doing convoy escort missions, so there is no real difference for me. After sitting around and not hearing from anyone for a few days, a 2nd Lieutenant came by and told my roommate and me that we were part of his CET, or convoy escort team. There are six CETs in C Btry, commanded by either an E-7 or a Lieutenant. The LT was in charge of our CET and we met the rest of the guys that night when they had an after action review after their mission. The group seemed to be alright; they were mainly glad to know that the two new guys were from the South. Tallil is an old Iraqi base that is now run by the US. There are people here from the UK, Australia, Romania, Uganda, and probably a few other places. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but on Tallil there is Ali Air Base and Camp Adder. My address says Camp Adder but I haven't seen any signs that say it. Everyone lives in large living areas surrounded by concrete walls about 15 feet high. I'm in LA 3. LA 1 is closest to the DFAC (dining facility) and the PX. LA 3 is about 3/4 mi walk from there or you can ride the bus. Either way takes about the same amount of time. I usually take the bus to keep from having to salute every two minutes on the walk there. LA 7 is about 300mi from everything so I'm glad I don't live there. There is a small gym and a place with computers and phones about a fifteen minute walk from where I live. That is where I am now. The phones are good, but the computers stay full. Hopefully I can get internet in my room eventually. The terrain around here is just flat desert. The ground is more dirt than sand which wasn't what I was expecting and there are a few tree-like plants here that grow to a maximum of ten or so feet. Everywhere people normally walk around here is covered with several inches of gravel and there are large drainage ditches and retention ponds throughout the base. I thought that was a little strange until it rained. Just an hour of rain turned Tallil into a lake. Evidently this dirt doesn't perc well because there is still water standing four days after the rain. I was off the base for a few days and when I came back after the rain I had to wander around for a while until I could find a dry route to my trailer. Like I mentioned earlier, our mission is to escort convoys of 18-wheelers from here in Tallil to bases in other parts of Iraq. Some of the convoys are made up of TCNs (third country nationals) that drive regular 18-wheelers. Other convoys are KBR convoys that have armored 18-wheelers and are driven mainly by Americans. We drive armored Humvees that usually carry three or four people. On my first mission I mainly rode along in the back seat to get an idea of what we would be doing. This past mission I was swapped to the Lt's truck as a driver. The missions usually take around 10 hrs one way but that varies a good bit. Our usual pattern is to spend three or four days on the road and then stay in Tallil for two or three days working on the trucks. Because the missions are at night, sleep can be hard to come by. That also means that we don't get to see much scenery because it's dark when we're on the road. Our missions take us through Baghdad and a few other cities, but as of yet I haven't been able to see much and what you can see is a bunch of rubble. At night the roads are empty, as far as civilian traffic goes, due to the fact that there is a curfew starting at 10pm for Iraqis. However, on a normal night there are lots of military convoys traveling. Iraq is very dark at night. Where there is electricity, it is intermittent and the only lighted places are Iraqi police checkpoints. That makes going through the populated places very eerie. It reminds me in that way of New Orleans after the hurricane. Well, that is about all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are things I've forgotten to mention and I would be more than happy for anyone to write me with any questions. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. Jim