Bee Joyful

April started off with beautiful weather. Atley and I were on our way to the NC State Arboretum to meet with friends when we got the call from Rick about his dad. And in a few hours we were on our way to Florida. It took us about 14 hours and we broke it into 2 days. We are so thankful we went. Then Grampy passed away on April 11th at 5pm. At the time, Atley, Addison and I were in Boone, NC for the state finals for Odessey of the Mind. We spent the weekend there and made it home on Sunday. Then on Friday, we boarded a plane and headed to Manchester, NH and drove to Maine. Visitation was from 4-8 . It was a special, memorable time. Then the next morning we headed to the church for the Grampy's final service. Rick and Amy both spoke and the messages were so full of love for Grampy. At the cemetary, we all laid a flower on the coffin before it was lowered. It was a great time of reflection on many things. It was really nice to see family and we all went out to eat afterwards. Atley ha...

A couple of months ago, Grampy found out he had cancer. We were hoping for at least one more summer trip to Maine to see everyone but we ended  up going to Florida over Easter weekend.  Rick flew directly from Nashville and I loaded everyone into the car in a matter of hours and we all met in Ruskin at the Hospice. We had a very special visit with Grampy and all the family. Grampy recovered remarkably on the day we arrived and we had such a good time visiting, laughing and praying together. We left and drove back home and Rick was able to stay with his dad until Saturday at 5pm when Grampy passed on. We will be going to Maine for the visitation and funeral. This has been a very sad time but we were also very blessed to be able to see Grampy and spend the time last week. As he lay on his bed before we left he said several times that he thinks he is the most blessed man on earth.  Richard B. Brown Richard B. Brown, 74, of Ocean Park, passed away on Saturday, April...