Memories

Jim's cousin Sherry sent me a FANTASTIC saying yesterday that is just so awesome and true.

Take good care of your memories. You cannot relive them. –Bob Dylan

This is just so perfect for me, my family, and loved ones who loved and knew Karen. My Dad had made mention that he was never going to get to hear her voice again. Well, I told him that I would find video of her. Surely we have it and I'm going to find it. And with that I'll take care good care of my(our) memories and we can hear and see her anytime we want.

It's been 1 week today since the loss of my sister Karen. And I (we) must do what we can to move on, but NEVER forget. Still love you and miss you terribly. Still want you here with us...and that will never change.

Life is short. Break the rules. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

Karen Elizabeth (Wright) Boggs Pope

02/16/65 - 07/24/07

The incredibly beautiful girl that you are getting to see in the picture above is my awesome sister Karen. She passed away on Tuesday after a short yet grueling battle with cancer. This girl battled to the very end! Even in her last days that girl had the fight in her. It's VERY hard to understand why at this point. But after watching someone that I love struggle to breathe and be in such pain, I know that she is no longer having to be in misery. She was an unconditional giver. She was so worried about us and if WE were OK. As my sister Cheryl and her loving fiance mentioned in her obituary (forgive me for any miswording) "...she got to know true love and was truely loved". She loved her nieces, nephews, and son Mitch so much. And her love for her animals...oh my...so loved her animals! And oh how she brought the 2 loves of her life to their knees! She was our rock. As my Dad said "our 'go to' person" in the family. She was the person you could call in the middle of the night and she'd be there as fast as she could get there. And she'd be the first to call you on it if you were messing up or doing a loved one wrong :) She might have been small in size, but she was HUGE in will and heart. Oh my word we are missing her and are gonna continue to miss her. After they wheeled her out of the hospital room, and all of my siblings (minus one) are gathering up her things...my brother says to me "I keep thinking 'where's Karen at?'" And, then we are both like "...oh..." It just doesn't seem real. Even though we watched it happen with our own eyes. Even though I held her hand from when it was warm till it wnet cold...it just DO NOT SEEM real. I know she's in a better place, but sure do wish she could still be here. She was just so amazing and anyone who knew her for more than a minute knows exactly what I'm talking about. She had MANY rough times. The kinda of rough times that would break the average person. She just rolled with the punches. The girl was freakin tough!

I will definitely think of more that I should add as time goes on. Still kinda dazed and confused at the moment (so please forgive the way that this blog is all over the place). But I had to send out my love to her ...this beautiful, wonderful, loving, kick-ass...I mean KICK-ASS sister of mine! I love you Babe and man alive I already miss you so much. I regret not having more one on one time with you over the years. But I cherish the memories that I have stored in my head. Even the ones of sorrow from the past week. I'm glad I was able to have that time. I love you, we all love you, and we'll always have you in our hearts!!!!

**Services for Karen will be Saturday, July 28th, 2007 @ 11am and will be held at McCoys Funeral Home in Sweetwater, Texas**

Replacing the "F" word

Replacing the "f" word in our vocabulary and minds is a tough thing to do. And no...I'm not talking about the "f" word that we swear...I'm talking about FEAR! This situation with my sister has had me thinking deeper than I've thought...ever! We all believe that prayer is the best answer for Karen. And I whole heartedly believe that this is true!! But many of us are being held back from truly committing to these prayers because of the "f" word. (Please don't anyone take this personal or as an attack on your beliefs...this is an innocent rambling...) How do I come to this conclusion? Because I for one am guilty of feeling overwhelmed with sadness, worry, stress...etc. And what is this all derived from? ......FEAR! Fear of the unknown, fear that there's nothing I or any of us can do. But I feel that if we can remove the "f" word from our hearts and replace it with FAITH...THEN, and only then we are praying whole heartedly! We are truly putting Karen in God's hands. Yes, we are all human and that in turn make us have emotions. And we are and should cry and feel sad that this is happening to someone whom we all love so much and mean so much to us. Karen (as we have said so many times in the past 1.5+ months) is the Rock in our family. She is truly one tough cookie. But to dwell and wallow in deep nasty depths of fear isn't gonna do a dang thing for her. Faith in God... in our prayers for Karen...that's what she needs from us.

I realize that I may have not worded a dang thing "correct" in this blog. And I might have come off as loving as a Brillo pad, but it is (again) just my ramblings...not intended to hurt anyone, but to maybe enlighten anyone who might have been doing what I am guilty of.....ya know...being consumed with the "f" word.

You NEED to know!

Ok...this goes out to all the ladies who read this blog. Any men who read...tell your ladies.. PLEASE! Some of you may take this as an "ewh, ick" topic....but facts are facts and I have a fact that I need to share.

When you get your annual exam from your Gyno, that swab they do ONLY checks for cervical cancer and the HPV virus. That swab DOES NOT check for uterine or ovarian cancer. Now when the dr. pushes around on your stomach in the ovary area (externally), he is looking for abnormal lumps and what not...but they can get missed. And if you are someone who's dealt with (or has) endometriosis(sp?), it may be even harder to catch a tumor. As in the case with my sister. I called my Gyno and asked these specific questions because I don't want this to happen to anyone I know or love EVER again! He said you body "should" give you indicators to let you know that somethings not right. Abdominal pain (as vague as that sounds) in that area is the most common indicator. But if you have endometriosis, cysts, or something along those lines you may have that pain a lot anyway (every day for some). So, all I can say is that if you feel anything other than normal in that area...something appears funky...DON'T dismiss it....PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't dismiss it. I was once that person who dismissed pain, but have now learned that it IS you body's way of saying "HELLO, fix me please!". Please don't let these words fall on deaf ears. Hear them, take care of yourself, most of us have a $20-$30 co-pay to go see the dr. That's not that big of a deal when you look at the big picture. Pay it, be pro-active, don't put yourself last...there are people who NEED you to stick around!

I'm done with today's sermon. Check in later for another :)

14

Wow, I must say that #14 has slipped up on me! I just realized a few minutes ago that it is the eve of our 14th anniversary. I've been so preoccupied that I didn't even get my hubby a card. So I hope this counts :)............

It's so crazy, but I think we have out lasted all of our friends (at the time that we got married) in marriage but 1 couple (Brian and Penny). We were warned that we were getting married to young. But ya know, I strongly believe that it worked to our benefit. We grew up together :) We are both so strong willed and stubborn that I think we'd be total oil and water if we got together any later in life. You are and have been since day 1, my best friend. We may claim that from time to time that the other one has lost their minds and have no idea what's going on in their head. But deep down, we pretty much know what the other is thinking 90% of the time....10% of the time we ARE nutz! :)

It has been a great 14 years with a perfect mixture of up, downs, insanity, pure joy, and love!! There have been the days where we could burn each other down with our less than loving stares :)~~ But all in all the love has never gone. And man alive we've made some beautiful kids in the process!! I wouldn't want to take this roller coaster ride with ANYONE else!

Love you Babe!