A Memorial Service for Dadu

Today we had a memorial for Dadu at his house. It was scheduled for 10 o’clock, but got started a little late. JoAnn and John, Dadu’s neighbors, were there, as well as Sitome who played in his string ensemble. Tony Langley came for the service (Tassy and Deedee arrived later), and Andrew Thompson, a friend of Ruth’s from Lagniappe church in Mississippi, stopped on his way to Pennsylvania.

Pop opened with a prayer and a short reading. Wavy followed with her remembrances and read a passage from Ecclesiastes and some other thoughts from a famous author (who’s name I can’t recall). Niddie had a few words about Dadu’s love of music and played a recording made by a student who had purchased Dadu’s cello. Then the service was opened to anyone who wanted to say something. Jo-Ann talked about how she had enjoyed living beside Dadu, and all the conversations they had together. Finally after everyone had said something, I closed with a few thoughts of my own, read Psalm 23, and ended with a prayer.

A Night at Enchanted Airlie

This was the second year we went to Airlie Gardens in Wilmington when it was decorated for Christmas. We went later this year, from 7 to 9 PM on Friday. It was sold out and rather crowded.

The tour starts in the new administration building where the Cape Fear Railroad Club sets up an O-scale layout of Lionel trains. After that the path heads around the Airlie Oak.

Enchanted Airlie

Some are the trees are illuminated with lights from below and others are draped with long chains of colored lights. This year they introduced “trees” made from bottles and lights.

The girls ran around in the lawn at the Airlie Oak to let out some of the energy before we went on. Then we walked over to the board walk that looks over the bay — across from Airlie Lake where the swans live.

Resting at the Airlie Oak

Near the end of the tour, the path goes under a “tree” of lights. I thought it would be neat to get a picture while standing under it.

Looking up In a Light Display

After that the Railroad Club had a display of outdoor trains (garden trains?) set up along the path. The girls enjoyed watching the trains go by. On the passenger train, each car was almost two feet long.

Christmas Picture

We took some more pictures this weekend.

In Front of the Christmas Tree

The girls do really well when we take these pictures, even though they get very antsy by the end.

Maurice Shepard

Published in the Jacksonville Daily News from 12/14/2007 – 12/17/2007.

Maurice C. Shepard, 91, of Jacksonville, died Dec. 12, 2007, at Pitt Memorial Hospital.

He was a retired civil service microbiologist for the U.S. Navy.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth Erika Shepard.

Survivors include his three daughters, Julia Shepard Friant of Jacksonville, and Jean Shepard and Evelyn Shepard, both of New York City, N.Y.; one sister, Miriam Shepard Peterson of St. Paul, Minn.; 11 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, 930-B Wellness Drive, Greenville, NC 27834.

Arrangements are by Jones Funeral Home in Jacksonville.

Dadu

Yesterday, December 12, at 3:30 PM, Dadu passed away. He was surrounded by his loving family to the very end.

He was at Pitt Memorial Hospital where he had been admitted for trouble with his swallowing reflex. The doctors were not able to successfully treat the problem and he grew weak from only being nourished by an IV. He developed congestive heart failure and while they were treating that, he got a pneumonia infection. The doctor realized his chances for survival were falling rapidly and called the family up to the hospital on Tues., December 11.

Crystal and I went up Tuesday afternoon and I got to speak to him while he was still able to open his eyes. We were all able to express our love before he became unconscious, and I’m grateful for that. Niddie and Wavy flew down from New York and arrived that evening. Ruth drove up from Mississippi and she and Heidi stayed by Dadu’s side all night.

Dadu’s body will be cremated and we will be having a memorial service at the end of this week or the beginning of the next.

Over the Weekend

This past weekend was a busy one. I took off Friday to go with Crystal and the girls to Havelock where Crystal had an appointment to get her eyes checked. Then we found out that Stephanie and Vasco were planning on moving the bulk of their furniture that morning, so I volunteered to help. It ended up that I only needed to help bring it in the house since Vasco had help from work. But I was able to help set up the beds and dressers after the everything was brought in.

Then Saturday Galina had a piano recital for all her students at Covenant Presbyterian in Jacksonville. So we managed to switch tickets for the Christmas play at Scotts HIll Baptist Church from that evening to Sunday afternoon. Galina had about twenty to twenty-five students of all ages and skill levels. They all did a good job and at the very end, Anna Vick sang a solo with Galina accompanying her.

Sunday we went to the 4 o’clock performance of the Christmas play. Galina was going to watch Chloe while we took Morganne, but when Morganne heard who was coming she decided to stay home and play. So just Crystal and I went to the play. We enjoyed it, though it was long. It was a mixture of singing, a little acting/storytelling, and some dancing (swing and modern/ballet). I think Morganne would have enjoyed the dancers, but it would have been hard for her to sit through the whole thing.

“Good Girl”

Last night Morganne taught Chloe some new words. We were playing on the couch and I was holding a stuffed dog and making barking noises. Chloe couldn’t tell if it was a real dog barking or not and was looking around saying, “Dixie.” So I whistled for Dixie to come join us (she was sleeping in the bedroom).

When Dixie got to the living room, I petted her and told her she was a good dog. Chloe slid off the couch to pet too, and Morganne joined in saying, “Good girl.” Chloe looked at her for a moment and then patted Dixie and said “Gaa Gaa.” Morganne started laughing and Chloe just grinned.

A few minutes later we went back to the bedroom to show Crystal. Morganne did it first and then Chloe took out her pacifier, leaned over to pat Dixie, and said “Gaa Gaa.” She would have kept on doing it for a while if we hadn’t pulled her away to go read bedtime devotions.

Christmas Pictures

Crystal has been taking pictures in preparation for sending Christmas cards. We set up our tree last weekend, and it has served as the background for most of these pictures.

Morganne and Chloe on the Couch

For the most part, the both are good subjects in front of the camera. Chloe has learned that she can see the result on the back of the camera, so she usually jumps down as soon as the picture has been taken and runs over to the camera to say “ohhhh.”

In Front of the Tree

Morganne generally does a good job posing. Sometimes she likes to try new things.

Just Morganne

But it can be difficult getting both girls to look and smile at the camera. This last picture was actually the first one we took. If only we had known it was the best we took, we could have skipped the frustration of taking all the rest — actually there were a couple other good ones, but most of them had Chloe looking at me instead of the camera.

Everyone at the Tree