Welcome 2010

2009 is gone but not forgotten. It ended on a dark note for my family. My dear brother-in-law died on December 22. He had been ill for only a few weeks. We knew he had serious health problems but no one thought the end would come so soon. I saw him the day he died. In fact we talked quite a lot that morning. He seemed to be remembering things from his past and the memories were not always pleasant. He told me about a lady he had known who had been ill for a very long time. He said people said she was so brave for fighting so hard. He said he had just felt sorry for her. I think Louis was telling me that we wasn't going to fight his cancer.
When Louis found out about the cancer his first thought was for his wife (my sister) Shirley. He and Shirley met when he was home on leave from the Navy. He was nineteen and she was eighteen. The fell deeply in love and decided to marry. I remember my mother crying and begging Shirley to reconsider. My mother thought Shirley was too young. I was five and did not really understand what was going on, but I knew that my mother just did not cry, so this had to be bad. But Shirley and Louis had made up their minds and they married. They were married 48 years when he died.
Shirley and Louis had two children. Sheila Joy, whom they called Joy and fourteen years later a son, Michael. Joy is married and has three children, Heath, Savannah and Lucas. Joy is in charge of the Anniston, Alabama court system. Michael was a college professor, with just a few pages left on his dissertation for his PhD. when he was killed in an automobile accident just before his twenty-ninth birthday.
Louis spend his last days planning for Shirley's future. He sold all his "toys", tractors, guns, etc. He got house plans for a new house and had signed the paperwork with a builder to build her a new house close to most of her family. Then and only then did he let himself be put in the hospital. Three weeks later he died.
Louis was a strong, loving man who never really recovered from his son's death. I think he would have been more willing to fit for life if Michael had still been with him. Louis loved his family, his work, and his animals. He always had cats.
My beloved cat, Big Kitty, died in early December. Big Kitty was 19 years old. I thought he would be with me forever. I miss him everyday. I still haven't been able to get rid of his litter box. I still call out to him as I come home like I always did.
I like to imagine that Louis, Michael and Big Kitty are all together, along with my mother and father and my friend Mary, my aunt Eunice, ... will you get the idea. I don't know what exists beyond this realm but I hope I will see them all again. That is how I can welcome a new year.