My Uncle JT

Well, this weekend was one of mixed emotions. One of my daddy's brothers, JT, passed away. The good thing is that he is no longer in pain and how cool it is to think he has already met Jesus. But for those of us left here, we will have to learn to live life without him here in body. Of course, selfishly, I did not want to do that, I didn't want him to go but I know God knows best and that does bring comfort; thank you Lord for the memories we have. I wish I had a picture to download to show you. I will get one scanned so you can see him. He was a great guy. He lived in Alexandria, Alabama with my Aunt Betty, who is also great. They would come to Louisiana to visit quite often. I always enjoyed their visits. My kids loved Uncle JT too.

OK, I do not want this to be a sad post and it really shouldn't be because he knew Jesus and Jesus knew him. I find peace in imagining what he must be seeing in Heaven and how in awe he must be. This is how I got through my daddy's death in 2004. That is one tough journey to take. But, I know I will see Daddy again in Heaven one day. Here is a picture of my daddy.

My cousins from Arkansas, Sylvia and Ann, (the closest things to sisters I had growing up), Zach and Ann's son Colton left Saturday heading to Alabama. I know it sounds strange considering the circumstances but we had a blast on the road trip. We don't see each other much anymore so we had alot of catching up to do. We laughed and laughed.

I have truly been blessed with a family, immediate and extended, that loves one another and knows the value of the family. All my aunts and uncles are wonderful people. Unfortunately, not all are still here with us but I love each and every one of them.

Charlene

My first of many St. Jude Marathons

My first attempt at posting went ok except I couldn't get pictures inserted. The one I did get in was not where I wanted it. I will keep trying until I figure it out.

I wanted to tell you about my first St. Jude marathon. If you read the previous post I started telling you about the trip, so go back and read my first one if you haven't already.

After the Pasta Dinner, Melissa and I went with Melanie and Stacie to help them put up signs all around the route to remind the runners why they were doing what they were doing.

The next morning we made it to the start of the race to see the runners off. This picture just shows the 5K only and look at all the people. Melanie had places she wanted the cheerleaders to be at.

Here is Melanie, Jake's Aunt Mo, taking pictures (with diaper bag in tow). You can see more pictures at the TEAMJAKE website.

Here is Stacie, Jake's mama, getting ready to go do some cheerleading.




I was amazed at how many runners would look at those pictures of that precious angel Jake and pick up the pace when they saw it. So many of them would look at the posters, give a thumbs up and yell out "that is why we are here". Even at the end of the long marathon I think those pictures of Jake just help the runners keep going. Melissa or I didn't run the race but I was so blessed just to be there cheering on the wonderful people that were running. And being a part of TEAMJAKE just can't be described with words.



Here is Melissa with a few of the signs.




And look at that poster of Jake. That is what keeps them running. WE HAVE TO FIND A CURE!!!

Here is one of Jake's brothers in the 5K. He would be the first one to tell you how bad we need to find a cure.

So after the race we had to go collect the signs and posters we put out the night before. We were not able to catch back up with Melanie and Stacie so the signs and posters rode right on back to Homer with us. I talked to Stacie at the JOR Foundation "Shake for Jake" and told her I had them and would be bring them back this year but I'm not sure I want to give up that picture I have of little Jake. You see, every time I have to open the trunk of my car, there is Jake just smiling at me, reminding me of the precious gifts God gives us. We don't know how long we will be allowed to keep those gifts from Him, because after all it all belongs to Him, so we have to make the most of every day. I never had the opportunity to met Jake in person but from reading his website I knew his entire family loved that baby beyond belief. They definitely made the most out of every day they had with him. This is one reason I have grown so attached to the JOR Foundation and TEAMJAKE and to Melanie and Stacie.

These are just a few more pictures I wanted to share.

Here is Jake's JinJin, the picture she is holding is one of her and Jake.

Reminding the runners of Emma Grace and Jake.

Now this shows what the cheerleaders are there for. This is Melanie giving one of the TEAMJAKE members some encouraging words. I can just hear her saying something like "DO IT FOR JAKE". Guess what, she finished the race!

OK, after a long day, even the cheerleaders need to rest. That is one tired MO.

I hope we can see you in Memphis in December. Go join TEAMJAKE!!! Aren't you glad I figured out how to insert the pictures?

Charlene

First time for everything

Look, my very first posting. I'm not sure if anything I write will ever actually appear on my blog, remember I am still in training. This one will be more of a trial run. So here goes, I am going to try to insert a picture.

OK so somehow I inserted the picture above the text. I'll work on that, just not sure how to change it yet. Any way, this is where I am going with this picture. I was blessed last year by the opportunity to go to Memphis to the St. Jude Marathon. No, not as a runner but as a cheerleader for TEAMJAKE and all the other people out there running for a cure. My sister-in-law, Melissa, and I decided we wanted to head up there and see what it was all about. Man did we have a good time. We didn't know a soul there but had talked with Dawn from TEAMJAKE on the phone and through email. So, here we are in Memphis with no idea what we needed to do, we just knew we signed up for the very important job of cheering on the runners that Saturday morning. Of course we get lost, Melissa was not the best co-pilot. (Just kidding Melissa you did great with what you had to work with, namely me.) We call Dawn, she give us Melanie's cell phone number (Melanie is Jake's aunt), we call Melanie and instantly, I promise, the first time I talked to her it was like talking to an old friend. So she helps us find our way and gets us tickets to the Hero's Pasta Dinner. That was an unbelievable night for me. I know I can't describe it here. Look at all the gold TEAMJAKE shirts. Never mind, I can't figure out how to post another picture. Just imagine a lot and I mean a lot of gold TEAMJAKE shirts. I'll get that picture up one day. When Melissa and I got there we looked for those shirts. Yep, the first people we see are Melanie and Staci, Jake's mom. They made us feel like family. Let me tell you something about Jake's family, they are the sweetest, most caring people. Jake Raborn was a lucky little boy to have so much love shown to him during his sweet, short life here. And this family will make sure he is remembered with all they do. I for one, am going to help them.

I will tell you about the marathon in my next post because I want to figure out how to get those pictures on here. I know you will be back to read all about it.

By the way, I have signed up for the Memphis Grizzlies House 5K this year. My 16 year old son is going to be with me. Melissa will be there too with her 11 and 15 year old sons. I think we can handle it. But you better believe that I will be out there cheering on the other runners doing the half-marathon and marathon as soon as I have finished with the 5K. Any of you out there that wants to join in the fun this year? Well, I just happen to know how you can do just that, go to http://believeteamjake.com and sign up for an event or contact TEAMJAKE about being a cheerleader. While you are there check out the Jake Owen Raborn Foundation website and read about Jake at his caringbridge website.

I thought this would be a short post since it is my first one, guess I was wrong.

Charlene