Well despite rain showers throughout the morning the temps stayed rather pleasant in the low 60's. It almost felt like a spring morning at times when the sun peeked through the rain clouds. We slept in until 7'ish as the darkness is quite intense still at that time of the day. After our quiet times we made breakfast burritos to get the gastric juices flowing. We knew there was going to be finger food after the memorial service at Antioch Church for our mountain top friend Helen which started at 11.
We headed out around 10:30 to the church which we learned after speaking to the grand son of the original builder of the church was built before Alleghany County was founded. It's still in its original shape and quite quaint on the inside. A fellowship room has been added on to the rear of the building in later years but the insides has stayed much the same. R.J.Reynolds the tobacco baron from Winston-Salem was the benefactor for this man's grandfather, who was also a carpenter as well as a preacher for constructing the building. Beyond your sight from the building and up the hill is a beautifully manicured cemetery.
The memorial service was very nice and we learned many things about Helen we were unaware of as we waved daily at her or stopped to chat as we passed by her small rustic cabin on our hikes. She was quite the traveler as the family showed slides of some of her travels all over the world plus her RV that she drove to California in by herself while in her 70's and 80's. She had a pilots license and soloed at the age of 65. Her one son worked on the graphics for the movie Lord of the Ring and lives in New Zealand. She was a nurse in Plant City, Florida not to far from where we live in Florida. One of the care helpers who spoke very highly of her mentioned she always called her by a nickname of sunshine when she would come daily and wouldn't you know it at that time during the service the skies cleared and a brilliant streak of sunlight entered through the large windows of the church. Nancy and I looked at each other and was taken back by this coincidence. When we left for the cabin it was raining hard again.
We had the privilege of meeting her two sons and two daughters and several grand children. Each one of them spoke of a memory of Helen and then would place a beautiful flower in a vase on the altar in her honor. Many spoke of her fearless exploits, her professionalism as a charge nurse as a couple of her nursing classmates were there despite their advanced ages, her generosity in taking many of these with her as she traveled all over the world and her love for her family. She even allowed her ex-husband to move back in with her at her daughters home as she became more infirmed during her last couple years of life. She only visited the cabin when the daughter would bring her back up for a visit from Greensboro where she lived and we saw her about a week before she passed on during one of those visits. That was the first time we ever met her oldest daughter Laura and oldest son, Steve. They were very pleasant and of course made us feel like family and long lost friends at the service.
We headed home and got ready for Gerald and Karyl for supper. Nancy was having tortilla soup, salad and apple crisp while Gerald was bringing guacamole and a little vino. We spent the afternoon making ready for them at 4:30 as we wanted to teach them the game of Euchre after eating. Seems they both are early risers so they don't stay up late. We did force them into a third game of cards as it was one each and we(guys) prevailed in the tie breaker. It was early by our standards, 9ish when they headed out for the evening. I tuned into the NLDS game and the Giants were beating up on the Cardinals after the Royals have won both games in Baltimore over the Orioles. It wasn't long after the dishes were washed and dried that I hit the hot showers and then read a little of Brown's book before the sandman calleth around 11'ish.
I almost forgot to mention today is our second oldest grand daughters birthday, Annsley who is 7. Her daddy took her and Gabe out to eat at her choice of restaurant and movie. We wonder where did those years go so fast, LATER
