8 years

It has been 8 years since Chris died. That really isn't all that long but seems like an eternity to me. I was thrilled today that the UK Wildcats won their game against Florida to end their regular season 31-0. A perfect season with tournaments still to come. Oh how Chris would have loved this- he was definitely a True Blue Fan!
Yes, The UK Wildcats would have made him smile but so would having Allison and Meg here in Kentucky. It was a wonderful surprise to have them decide to give Kentucky a try. They both have jobs with the Scott County Schools and they bought a great house in Paris, KY. It is wonderful to have all of the girls "home."
It has taken her a bit longer than most but Emily will finish her schooling in May with an Associate's degree in Graphic Art. She has been diligent in working towards this degree. I am proud of her, and I know Chris would be too.
Chris's mom, Carolyn, turned 88 years old this past December. She plays bridge- weekly I think- and is thrilled to have her granddaughters nearby. We try to get Carolyn to slow down and to let us take care of some things but she will argue that she is healthy and strong and will do what she wants. I see so much of Chris when Carolyn argues that way. He wanted to do things by himself -when he could.
As for me well not much has changed. I'm still doing needlepoint and knitting and thrilled with all things technology related.
 I sit here using my iPad and think about how much Chris would have enjoyed all the different ways we have to keep in touch with each other- FaceBook. Instagram, email, and, Twitter to name a few. Chris had so many friends spread far and wide and loved being in touch. The technology we have today would have made that so much easier for him.
I haven't kept writing this blog like I planned but sometime life just gets in the way. I think about Chris each and everyday and am comforted knowing that he is smiling down on us each and everyday.

Four years. . . Where does the time go? As I sit here at my computer I look around and see all of the changes I have made around the house, Chris would be pleased. New floors, new paint, new furniture, Chris would have loved it all except for the dust it generated as the work was done. I finally replaced the sectional couch that Chris bought before we got married. It has been great, held up well, but it needed to be changed. Emily helped pick out the new one, but was a bit reluctant to let the old go. The fact that a young family who had no couch received our old one made the new one that much nicer. Emily recently spent time weeding out the bookcases but made sure to leave all of the science fiction books that Chris loved to read, she thought that maybe she would read them some day. Chris and I chose all of the things for this house together, as I made choices for the new floors and the new kitchen, what Chris would suggest was never far from my mind. I think he would like how things are now.

Chris would have “felt my pain” because I was in school so late last June-we both looked forward to summer days spent at the pool. In late June, Emily and I went to Boston to spend time with Allison and Meg, I am sorry that Chris is not here to celebrate their engagement and upcoming marriage. Chris often talked about the time when our girls would settle down. He would have really liked Meg-she makes Allison very happy.

Chris would have been very surprised that I was not ready to go back to school in early August-I am always ready, but last summer was entirely too short! Chris would love that Emily is finally taking computer classes-working towards a graphic art degree-he really liked the work she did on the computer. Chris would have enjoyed getting to know Emily’s boyfriend, Jonathan. He would have probably talked Jonathan’s ear off about the “War of Northern Aggression” (Chris’s term) especially since neither Emily nor I are particularly fluent in the American Civil War, but it is something Jonathan likes. Chris would have been so happy and proud that Allison earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and was offered a teaching position at her school. He knew how difficult it was to work and take college classes at the same time as Allison has done.

Chris would have enjoyed watching his beloved CATS in the NCAA tournament last spring but would have been disappointed that they did not make it to the Final Four. He would have been pleased that five of the CATS were chosen it in the first round of the NBA draft, but would have preferred that they stay at UK. Chris would have enjoyed watching the CATS this season but would have moaned like the rest of us that they have had a such hard time winning on the road. No matter what he hated to see UK lose ball games.

Family was always very important to Chris, he loved each and every holiday, wedding and birthday because it meant that family was gathering somewhere. My nephew Sean’s wedding in July and my niece’s, Beth, wedding in October meant celebrating with the McKennas. Thanksgiving and Christmas were celebrations with his mom’s brothers and sisters. Chris loved to talk, and family gatherings gave him the chance to catch up with everyone. Although the girls and I enjoy all of the family celebrations, they are just not the same without Chris.

There have been so many changes this year, weddings, births (Ryan and Grace), deaths, remodels, engagements, new friends, new technology (ipad!), movies, TV but one thing remains the same, Chris has been missed each and every day. Life goes on, things change but the memories remain. I am glad that Chris was part of my life.

Allison, Emily, Carolyn and I really appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers that have come our way. We are all doing well and know in our heart that Chris keeps watch over us. Life is good. Take Care. Mary Jo

This past year there have been many things that have happened that I often wondered what Chris would have thought about them. The biggest would be with UK basketball. He would have been thrilled to see Billy Gillispie go, but would not have been happy with the settlement the University and Gillispie agreed upon. He would have been thrilled with the choice of John Calipari as the new head coach of UK basketball. Chris would have liked the way that Calipari has embraced the Commonwealth and the way the Commonwealth has embraced Coach Cal. Chris would have loved the fact that the Big Blue faithful are once again camping out to secure their ticket or spot for the games, and he would have loved watching “his cats” play at Rupp. I can hear him now talking about the upcoming SEC tournament and the NCAA brackets and bemoaning the fact that the fabulous freshmen on this year's team may go pro.March madness is almost upon us and I know Chris would be watching every game possible.

Looking back at the past year, Chris would have loved seeing all of his cousins at the memorial they had for his Aunt Virginia. Chris loved being part of a big extended family and enjoyed anytime we were able to get together with his relatives-mine too!

Chris would have been thrilled at the birth of his cousin Carolyn’s daughter, Ava and my great niece, Caroline. His heart held a special place for baby girls-I wonder why?

Chris would have supported me in my decisions to take some ambitious needlepoint classes, although he would probably have just shook his head that I am needlepointing things for Halloween (he never understood why people would go all out in decorating for this holiday) He would have been thrilled to see me get out each month to attend the needlepoint guild meetings-he encouraged me to do more things for me, but he would be shaking his head that I am the treasurer of the guild-Chris took care of all things money related in our life and I was happy for him to do it! He would have enjoyed the things I’ve been knitting and would have been helpful with suggestions on color and yarn type-Chris had an opinion for everything!

Chris would have been thrilled to see that I spent most of my summer days sitting poolside at Spindletop and would have joined me if it were possible. He loved being out there and was disappointed when his health took that joy away.

Chris would have been happy to see Allison and Emily happy in what they are doing, whether it be school or work, he just wanted them to be happy.

I think the biggest new thing that Chris would have embraced this year would be FaceBook. Because of his health, Chris was not able to get out and do things a whole lot so the computer and email became very important to him. Chris loved being in contact with his Delta Chi Brothers from all over the world through email. Being part of FaceBook and other social networks would have made this a bit easier. Chris was very good about keeping in contact with friends from school but FaceBook would have made it so much easier. Because Chris was so good about keeping in contact with friends from the past he really encouraged me to do the same, which I didn’t really do. Chris would be thrilled to see that I have stepped out of my comfort zone and am now in contact with lots of people from my past and having a grand time with it all. He did it and he never understood why I did not . ..

Three years is a long time but sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that Chris and I were talking about this or that. Allison, Emily, Carolyn and I are doing well. We have had our ups and downs in the past year but who hasn’t? We miss Chris each and every day but know in our hearts that he keeps watch over us. We really appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers that have come our way. Life is good. Love, Mary Jo

School is finally out and my summer has begun! Emily and I will travel north in about 10 days to visit my family and celebrate my niece Maggie's birthday. It will be fun to see everyone-it has been almost a year since we saw them last. Emily is planning on attending Bluegrass Community and Technical College in the fall (she attended there a year ago)in Lexington. She will live at home and commute to Lexington for class. Right now I think she wants to study Anthropology. Allison is taking two summer night classes at Cambridge College in Boston. I think she has about 5 semesters of 2 classes at a time before she will graduate with a B.A. in Psychology-it takes a long time when you are restricted to 2 classes a session. She continues to enjoy her work at the Germaine Lawrence School. Allison has recently moved from Somerville, to Arlington, MA-both on the outskirts of Boston. I continue to work on needlepoint, knitting and scrapbooking and never have enough time to do any of it. Although summer has begun for me it will be short-we start back to school on August 6th-much too early. Take Care. Mary Jo

Happy Easter! We have had a wonderful day here in Kentucky. After church this morning, Emily, her boyfriend Jeremy, Carolyn and I met Lyland, Bill, Carolyn and Reid for a wonderful Lunch at the Chop House in Lexington. It was delicious. I had a great steak, although I may end up regretting that decision-my gout has flared up. I was pretty miserable with it on Saturday, but with great drugs am much better today.

I had a great Spring Break-went on a cruise to the Bahamas-a first for me. There were 9 in our group and we had lots of fun. I think the highlight would have to be doing the deep water swimming with the dolphins at Dolphin Cay Atlantis. I was really neat to be right in the water next to the dolphins. We had a scooter to propel us through the water so it was easier to "keep up" with them. Although it was a very controlled swimming situation I thought it was great.

We left from Port Canaveral on Monday and returned on Friday-short and sweet-but it was long enough to know that I would definitely go on another cruise! Now I just need to save up for one.

I am busy with both needlepoint and knitting. I am currently in a needlepoint class doing a Christmas decoration. By the end of the third class, the canvas should almost be completed-which is unusual-I start many projects and rarely do I finish them in class. This is the canvas I am doing Christmas Basket-the basket will come out of the canvas-I think we will use wire to give it dimension-that is what we will work on in the last class in 2 weeks. I am still working on afghan blocks for the Great American Afghan class I am in with my knitting. I have taken 7 class, finished one block but have 2 more very close to being completed. I won't even mention the knitted socks I have started.

The girls are both doing well. Allison has finished one of her classes and is looking forward to completing the other one. She is planning on taking classes during the summer as well. She is ready to be done with school. Emily on the other had is spending a lot of time working on crafts-a t- shirt quilt, and some other small projects. She will start classes again in the fall.

School is going well for me. I am deep into my new position as school technology coordinator(STC) I am curious to see if i will be teaching classes next year due to budget cuts or if i will be able to devote all of my time to the STC position. It would be much easier to only do the STC position-our school is large enough to need a full time STC but we will have to see how the budget goes and what our enrollment will be next year. Even though there are now 3 middle schools in Georgetown, my school, Scott County Middle, continues to be the largest and keeps growing!

I almost forgot-Before I left on Spring Break the University of Kentucky fired Billy Gillispie as head basketball coach (after two seasons) while I was gone they hired John Calipari as coach-it looks like next basketball season will be an interesting one to see.

Take Care. MJ

It is hard to believe that it has been two years since Chris died. The girls and I miss him terribly, but we go on. Looking back at this past year there are many things that Chris would have reacted to. Again, he would have been thrilled that I enjoyed my summer at Spindletop and would have moaned and groaned with me that we started school so early in August. He would have been pleased with the outcomes of my eye surgeries (I sure am) and would have been sorry that I needed to have surgery on my left knee. He would have been thrilled with how well both Allison and Emily have done in school. Although he probably would have preferred that Emily stay at Western Kentucky University, he would have supported her decision to sit out a semester-I am sure he would have enjoyed having her company at home during the day. Chris would have loved the surprise we pulled on his mom with Allison coming home for Thanksgiving Chris would have been thrilled that my nephew Ryan and fiance Jill got married but would have been very disappointed that the weather kept us from attending the wedding.He would have been happy the weather did not keep Allison from making it home for Christmas. Speaking of weather, Chris would not have been happy with the winter we had-the cold was always so difficult for him. Chris would have been very sad at the passing of his Aunt Virginia, but very pleased that his cousin Carolyn and her husband Reid are expecting a baby in late April. Chris would have been happy to see that Barack Obama is the President of the United States-Chris commented several times on Obama's accomplishments. Chris would be distressed to see the state of the economy, and probably even more distressed to see the state of the UK Basketball Team. (I have a feeling Chris would be one of the fans calling for the firing of Billy G! )Chris would have been sad at the death of Marge Lee-a long time employee of Delta Chi and Fred Hammert a Delta Chi from Texas. Chris would have enjoyed the Family Trees the girls and I made for both his mom and mine as well as the progress I have made in other scrapbooking things. Chris would have encouraged me to go ahead and enjoy myself with my Monday Night Knitters group, and the Needlepoint Guild. Chris would have loved having tickets for Mama Mia! Wicked, and Cirque Dreams-he really liked attending the theatre.

As time passes things become a little easier, and different. I've made many a mistake in the past two years-who hasn't-but for the most part I have gotten along pretty well. I still think about how Chris would react to things or how he would suggest I handle something, he was always so good at giving his opinion. I know that he is keeping watch over Allison, Emily and me and helping to make things as easy as he can for us. For this, I am truly thankful.

The girls and I are doing well. We miss Chris each and every day and really appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers that have come our way during the past two years. Thank you . Love, Mary Jo