Long over due...

It has been a long over due task to write into the Blog. Recently our life have been very hectic. work travel for work and sickness of the boys. More on that later.



Last week we loaded up the boys and headed to Indiana for my almost usual trip to Morse Reservoir for the 4th... The 3rd was a long and tiring drive with the boys, trying to keep them entertained and happy for the 6 hour drive. Alas at around 4 p.m. we arrived safely at Edgewater and had dinner with Aunt Mary Ellen, Uncle Jack, Chris, his girlfriend Libby, Meemaw and BaBa. We then took to the car again to continue down to Indy to Visit JB, Kiki, Patrick and Sam. All was looking very well. We had planned for Aunt Mary Ellen to arrive around 9:00 a.m. to help us ferry the boys, all 4 of them to the lake. Mostly because J.B. and Kiki had to make rounds in the morning and our car could take only 3 boys, but only if we crammed them in.

Long around 8:00 a.m., I received a call, one that I will never forget. JB had said that his mom was in the hospital and that we should might have to watch the boys for a little longer. He was leaving work and would be around later. This call was the beginning of the changing for our lives.



On July 4th, Mary Ellen's prognosis was terminal due to a brain aneurysm. She passed to heaven the following Wednesday.



Today was the day that we laid her to rest, next to her first husband, my uncle, Jack Hardigg.

Also next to her father and mother John and Louise Barton.



I have known her my entire life, but never had fully acknowledged what a wonderful woman she was. She has always been my Aunt Mary Ellen, some one that I obeyed to the letter ( for the most part) when spending the usual week of summer vacation in Indiana growing up. She was always nurturing, guiding, supportive and all around wonderful mother figure. But the thing that I never knew, was that she was this way with everyone. She was truly a wonderful person, and I have a new mantra for my interpersonal relationships, both at work and at home. WWMED. Obviously, What Would Mary Ellen Do? I will use her life, love, and history as an example for how I need to be. I will remind myself to be more like St. Aunt Mary Ellen.



And to Mary Ellen, it is a privilege to have even known you for as long as I have, but it is even more of an honor to have been related to you. You will remain in my thoughts and prayers as I, with brenna try to raise my children as well as you have.