Our Family

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"Our Family"
This section is just getting started. Here you'll find all kinds of pics & info about our respective families. Sandy is the youngest of 6 children, while I am the youngest of 2 brats (actually, my brother was the brat... I was ALWAYS an exemplary child).
(Just getting the ball rolling here... MUCH more coming very soon)

My Family
Top Row: Me (left), Sandy (right)
Bottom Row: My mom (left) and my Browns-loving brother, Tom (right).

Sandy's Wonderful Mom & Pop
Both have gone home to be with the Lord now. Dad lost his battle with lung cancer in Sept. of '99, and mom lost her battle with multiple myeloma in Feb. 2002... we miss you both so much.

Family Pics

Sandy's Family Reunion

We Miss You So Much, Mom & Dad

Reunited...

Cecil and Helen are dancing again...

"There is a love
that will last forever,
there are tears
that need to be shed,
there is loss
that needs to be mourned,
and there are memories
that will shine
through the sorrow."

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindess, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." --- Galatians 5:22

On Saturday, Feb. 23rd, 2002, Sandy's mom, Helen Lydia King, lost her battle with multiple myeloma (a form of blood cancer). She was preceeded in death by Sandy's dad, Cecil, who lost his battle with lung cancer in September of 1999.

Certainly, mom's passing was not unexpected. Following two emergency surgeries on Super Bowl Sunday (the first to remove her colon and the second to stop massive internal bleeding), a resuscitation from cardiac arrest, congestive heart failure, renal failure, a possible stroke from blood loss and a host of other serious problems including an infection with what the doctors simply dubbed an "organism" (some sort of infection that apparently manifests itself almost exclusively in terminal patients in ICU wards), mom was finally left in a coma from which doctors said she never emerge. All of this on top of being in an advanced stage of an incurable, very painful form of cancer.

After three weeks of praying for either a miraculous healing or the wisdom to know when to set her free, the entire family got together and the decision to withdraw support was made. In the interim, Sandy and I did our best to brace ourselves (and more importantly, our two little boys) for the impending emotional impact. But let me tell you... it's impossible to prepare for the profound, almost overwhelming sense of loss that comes from losing someone you love so much. Mom will be missed more than words can express. She wasn't just a mommy or grandma... she was a cherished friend, a confidant and an incredible role model.

Knowing that mom's salvation is assured through Jesus Christ gives us reason to rejoice in the midst of our sorrow. I'm so thankful that I've had the priviledge of knowing her. She was perhaps the sweetest, kindest, most accepting and forgiving person I've ever known, and I firmly believe that God has used her to teach the rest of us how to be better people... better Christians. I'm thankful for all of the wonderful ways she touched her children and grandchildren, especially my wife and our two little boys. And I'm thankful for the knowledge that we WILL hear her gentle laugh and see her sweet smile again... someday.

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